Cameroon, the forced migration of the population within the African country: between the struggle between the poor for land and the jihadists

YAOUNDE’ – The Under Secretary General and Emergency Relief Coordinator (USG/ERC), Martin Griffiths, has approved the $6 million allocation since Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to provide life-saving assistance and protection to people affected by humanitarian crises in Cameroon. In 2022, humanitarian crises affected 3.9 million people. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes and off their properties due to violence or flooding. These forced displacements have increased security risks, loss of livelihoods and food insecurity in affected areas.

The armed conflicts ravaging Sub-Saharan Africa. They have caused forced migrations above all to neighboring countries and only secondarily to Europe. These migrations in turn generate other tensions between migrants and local populations, in particular for access to land – as stated in a report by FOCSIV – undermining peaceful coexistence and local development. In the eyes of the locals, migrants are “grabbers” of land. New tensions and conflicts are generated on earth. Of course it is not? the case of equating the pressure of migrants on land to the land grabbing of large multinationals and sovereign states. Rather, it is necessary to understand that the tensions between migrants and locals have causes which, once again, originate in abuses carried out by who is it? more? strong and has more? power.

The case of Cameroon. This is the case of Northern Cameroon: the original cause and? to be found in the violence perpetrated by warlords, by Boko Haram. The Boko Haram phenomenon and? one of those conflicts that directly result in the forced migration of people. Forced to abandon their lands, they move to other areas to start a new life, occupying other lands, thus creating? another form of land grabbing against the local populations, in a war between the poor. But the land grabbing it has as its main cause the control of the territory and its resources by Boko Haram in Nigeria, and as a consequence the conflicts for access to land in Cameroon.

The bitter Anglophone-Frenchphone question. For 5 years now, the English-speaking provinces in the north-west and south-west of Cameroon have engaged in a tenacious battle to obtain autonomy. A request that often gives rise to violent clashes with the security forces and which is often accompanied by federalist demands, but also alternated with others – increasingly widespread – of an independence and secessionist type. During the period in which negotiations were held with the central government in the capital Yaoundé, there were generally peaceful demonstrations, which were aimed at obtaining a more equitable use of the English language in courts and schools and overcoming what Anglophone protesters defined “exclusions and discriminations” within the institutions. After that period of relative respite, now we have to deal with armed separatist formations.

An underfunded answer. The humanitarian response in Cameroon continues to be severely underfunded, depriving thousands of people of vital humanitarian assistance. In 2022, the Humanitarian Response Plan was only 42% funded. Therefore, “this allocation will support the people most in need in the Far North, Northwest and Southwest regions through protection and shelter services, as well as food and nutrition assistance,” said Humanitarian Coordinator in Cameroon, Matthias Z. Naab . The projects financed by CERF will be implemented by theFood and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Office of High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program ( WFP).

Collaboration with national NGOs. In order to improve timely access to vulnerable populations and ensure the sustainability of humanitarian assistance, relevant agencies will work closely with national NGOs that have better access to hard-to-reach areas. “Despite the challenges humanitarian organizations face in accessing remote areas due to violence, barriers to movement and poor road conditions, partners remain mobilized to deliver multi-sectoral assistance to the most vulnerable population,” said Karen Perrin, head of the ‘Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Cameroon.