Population displacement under-reported
CAMEROON is one of the African countries facing a humanitarian crisis as a combination of deadly attacks by rebel groups in the Far North region and growing violence in the English-speaking regions continue to trigger massive but under-reported displacement in the country.
Most displacement associated with conflict in Cameroon has historically occurred in the Far North, the poorest region of the country and the one that suffers the most from the Boko Haram insurgency, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), a global source of data and analysis on internal displacement.
Last year, seven in 10 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Cameroon were forced to flee because of violence in the English-speaking regions.
“Since 2017, UN agencies have been warning of a tragedy in the making in North-West and South-West regions,” said IDMC director Alexandra Bilak.
Armed groups fighting to secede from the rest of the country have been targeting schools and teachers they say are sponsored by the central government in French-speaking Yaoundé.
Entire families are being forced to flee repeatedly to avoid kidnappings and harassment. The central African country has been racked by protests and violence since 2017, with residents in English-speaking regions saying they have been marginalised for decades by the government and French-speaking majority.
After years of conflict, refugee figures rose from 20 485 in January 2018 to 63235 in January this year. In November last year, the number of
IDPs stood at 705000 compared with 679 000 a year earlier, according to the Institute for Security Studies.
In August last year, the worst coastal flooding in decades rendered nearly 5 000 people homeless in Douala, Cameroon's economic capital. Last year, floods also swept through the semi-arid Far North region, forcing people already displaced from conflict areas to move again.
The total number of new displacements in Cameroon nearly doubled last year compared with 2019. Over one million people are now internally displaced, the IDMC reported.
“If displacement continues at this rate and goes unreported, humanitarians will not be able to evaluate people’s needs and deliver effective assistance,” Bilak warned.
“Without evidence, you cannot prevent, respond, or find lasting solutions to this neglected crisis.” | African