Yesterday was THE 23RD WORLD REFUGEE DAY. CAMEROON HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION write a Statement about that Theme: ” For a World where Refugees are Welcomed”.
The Commission is pleased that Olivier Guillaume Beer, UNHCR Resident Representative in Cameroon, has expressed his satisfaction as follows: “Cameroon is a model in Central Africa [in terms of respect for refugee rights] because it respects the international conventions that enshrine the principle of non-refoulement of refugees [and because] the regulations in force in Cameroon [are] favourable to the development of refugees, [which] is not always the case in other countries”.
The Commission commends the adoption, on 20 October 2023 by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, of the Guidelines on the Human Rights of all Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers.
The Commission also commends the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID/BHA) with $26 million in funding for 2023 financial year, or 15,882,071,400 CFAF, as part of life-saving emergency food and nutrition assistance to more than 563,000 people, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and host communities in the Adamawa, East, Far North, North-West, and South-West Regions.
Noting that according to Cameroon Situation Report as of 31 December 2023, only 33 per cent of the refugee population received healthcare in 2023. In light of acute malnutrition cases among refugee children under five, pregnant women and lactating mothers, it is estimated that the financing essential to address the health difficulties of refugee people in 2024 amounts to 2,398,819 dollars, or 1,468,324,066 CFA francs.
The Commission, however is still concerned about substantiated cases of violations of the rights of refugees that have been brought to its attention. For instance, the case of the arbitrary arrest of Mr Orji Emmanuel Ghigozie, a Nigerian refugee, and his unlawful detention from 2 to 4 October 2023 by members of the Ékounou Gendarmerie Brigade, followed by his transfer to the Legal Department of the Ékounou Court of First Instance (CFI), on 4 October 2024. The situation was brought to the attention of the CHRC by the person concerned. He reported his ill-treatment during his arrest and police detention, orchestrated by his landlord, who accused him of renting fraud. The CHRC carried out two fact-finding missions to the Gendarmerie Post at the Central Post Office in Yaoundé, where it drew the attention of the gendarmerie officers who had lodged the complaint against the victim for failure to comply with the rule of law, in this case, Section 322-1 of the Criminal Code on renting fraud. The CHRC then referred the matter to the State Counsel at the Ékounou Court of First Instance, who, after a thorough examination of the case, released the victim from custody.
The Commission regrets to note the lack of operationalisation of refugee status management bodies in Cameroon, particularly the Refugee Status Eligibility Commission and the Refugee Appeals Commission.
The Commission recommends to the Ministry of External Relations, to finalise the two tripartite agreements signed on 2 March 2017 between Cameroon, Nigeria and the UNHCR, on the one hand and between Cameroon, Chad and the UNHCR, on the other, to ensure the effective return of Cameroonian refugees in these two countries as well as the voluntary return of Nigerian and Chadian refugees to their home countries.
The Commission urges key donor countries as well as the United Nations system bodies responsible for issues related to refugees and other forcibly displaced persons, to significantly strengthen the assistance provided to the States receiving large numbers of asylum seekers or refugees such as Cameroon.
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