THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE RIGHTS OF REFUGEES IN CAMEROON; PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

ABSTRACT

The have been many laws which have been put in place to protect the rights of refugees in Cameroon but yet there are lots and  lots of refugees in Cameroon whose rights are being violated and as a result the goals of the government are not being meet. The issue here is to examine the rights of refugees in Cameroon; problems and prospects. The  main research objectives is to make an appraisal on the enforcement of the rights of refugees in Cameroon and the challenges faced by the government in enforcing these rights and the main research method used is qualitative research method in putting all the material found in this work which is made up 5 chapters. Therefore this work recommends that the government should put in place Policies that are restrictive, strict as well as harsh so that it will restrain perpetrators of violating refugees to deceased from should acts

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

This study is mostly based On the enforcement of the rights of refugees in Cameroon, the problems and prospects so refugees are people who flee from their country or are outside their country of origin for reasons of fear, Persecution, conflicts, violence and other circumstances that have seriously disturbed public order and, as a result, they require international protection.

Cameroon does not have any internal law that protect refugees in Cameroon, but there are international treaties that protect refugees which Cameroon has ratify them and therefore becomes our laws. The adoption of law number 2005/006 of 27 July 2005 relating to the status of refugees in Cameroon.^[1] These convention and laws clearly spelt out who is a refugees and the kind of legal protection, assistance and social rights he or she should receive from the state of Cameroon.

The idea of developing bodies of international laws and convention to protect refugees only began in the 20th century, despite the ancient nature of false displacement and refugee movement Cameroon is a state party of the 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees. And its 1967 protocol (thereafter Referred to as the 1951 convention) Cameron also rectified the 1969 OAU convention governing the specific aspect of refugee problem in Cameroon.

Cameroon has not had its own legislation concerning the status of refugees, but this does not mean that it was silent on refugee’s affairs. Cameroon was a party or signatory of the 1952 convention relating to the status of refugees and the 1967 protocol and the 1969 OUA CONVENTION governing specific aspect of refugees problem in Cameroon.

The international community, government and civil societies became more involved as the problem of force  movement increasingly increase  As it became a political issue, requesting international legal instrument as the framework for their solution.

The problem of large refugee movement has affected nations either as refugee producing or receiving countries and Cameroon Happens to be one of the developing countries which create rooms for refugee as it offer conducive environment for refugees even though the country is witnessing a bad economic situation and sociopolitical tension due to the Anglophone crisis and the rising cost of living. “Nous souffrons” Examines the problem facing urban refugees in Yaounde (Cameroon). Refugees around the world are often victims of unthinkable human right abuse and forced to rely fully on the hospitality and protection of the international community, this unique relationship between a refugee and his hosts can present serious challenges to both parties. And as usual, the international communities have seen it for specifically outline the rights and responsibility of both refugees and host states.^[2]

As defined by the UN Refugee Convention as any person who owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reason of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion is outside the country of his nationality and is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country. Refugees are an inherently vulnerable group with a merit of complex needs that can be difficult although necessary for a host country to meet. They represent the human cause of unrest and are typically recognized as fleeing a range of courses, including authoritarian regime conflict, human rights violation and climate change.^[3]

Following the uprisings Anglophone crisis in November 22 2016 the nation Cameroon has been faced with lots of problems, a massive influx of people from the two Anglophone region’s in the northwest and southwest regions have filled the west side of mongo thereby causing overpopulation and as a result, many people were unable to provide for themselves become homeless defenseless and hunger has become the order of the day and people became afraid of their homeland for fear of death.

It is of great importance to maintain the fact that No law 1990/ 042 of 1990 which laid down conditions of entry, stay, and exit of refugees in Cameroon, dose specifically maintain the term refugees and it emphasizes the necessity of proper documentation for any movement into and out of Cameroon, contrasting with the mobility of the fluids that existed before the institution of national borders.^[4]

Furthermore refugees are protected under a variety of international laws the most relevant and wide reaching of which the 1951 UN convention are relating to the status of refugees as well as the UN protocol relating to the status of refugees which was signed in 1969.

Since 2013, sectarian violence in the central African republic has resulted in a massive influx of asylum seekers in Cameroon East region already chronicling vulnerable. There are currently around 353,000 central African refugees in Cameroon. Most of them leave in local communities, adding presure on access to basic services and local resources. Eu humanitarian aid focus on providing food, safe drinking water and sanitation, primary healthcare, shelter, livelihoods support, protection and education. Last year the EU allocated €29.95 million in humanitarian assistance to Cameroon.^[5]

The US government utterly failed Cameroonians with credible asylum claim by sending them back to harm in the country they fled, As well as mistreating already traumatized people before and during deportation. The cameroon and US government needs to remedy these abuses and US authorities Should provide opportunities for wrongly deported Cameroonians to return and will apply for asylum. By returning Cameroonians to face persecution torture and other serious harm the US violated the principle of nonrefoulement, a cornerstone of international refugees and human rights laws.^[6]

When attempting to approach the broad subject of refugees in Cameroon I will focus on three specific research questions that will give a deeper understanding of the situation in a clear and focused way; firstly, what resources are available for refugees in Cameroon? Which shows that refugees in Cameroon have limited amounts of resources. Primarily provided by the international Organization. More so, Are these resources effective or not? And hypothesized that these resources are not effective primarily because of the unexpected and extreme increase in the number CAR Entering Cameroon in recent months. And finally what can be done to change or improve the situation of the refugees as well as the host country? And^[7] hypothesized and change that could positively impact the situation, includes increased funding increase cooperation between different groups and dialogue with the refugee population.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 

Cameroon is not a state party to either the 1954 convention relating to the status of stateless person, or to the 1961 convention on the reduction of statelessness. Cameroon is the only member of the economic and monetary community of central African state CEMAC that has not sign the African union  convention for the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons in Africa  hereafter “ Kampala convention “

The government only deals essentially with enforcing the rights of refugees in Cameroon, but does not address any loss or injuries which the refugee victims may have suffered as a result of various changes and sufferings the government has only proposed decrease like the applications of the 2005 are refugee law and the 1951 un convention relating to the status of refugees. Moreover such laws are often so infinite that they fail to provide or serve the purpose for which they are implemented.

Therefore, this research identifies a fundamental problem in the effective enforcement of the rights of refugees and some problem faced by the government in enforcing these rights in Cameroon. The problem is the fact that the is No known case of refugees receiving legal representation by a lawyer has been documented as the is no legal aid for refugees in Cameroon.

1.3  RESEARCH QUESTION

1.3.1 MAIN RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To what extent are the rights of refugees in Cameroon enforced?

1.3.2 SPECIFIC RESEARCH QUESTION

• What is the legal framework on the enforcement of the rights of refugees in Cameroon?
• What are the institutions charged with the enforcement of refugees rights in Cameroon?
• What are the challenges faced in enforcing the rights of refugees in Cameroon?
• What can be done to effectively enforce the rights of refugees in Cameroon?