Violence exploded in the Central African Republic. Thousands of families crossed the border into Cameroon in search of safety. They were welcomed. They received food and housing. But that was more than seven years ago. Now, they are forgotten.

Cameroon is no stranger to diversity. It is known for its diverse landscapes, with vast desert plains, lush rainforests and stunning waterfalls within its borders. It is also known for an impressive cultural diversity, with its 25 million inhabitants speaking approximately 250 different languages between them.

But unfortunately, Cameroon is also the scene of three different humanitarian crises within its borders. In the Far North region, Cameroon has become embroiled in the Lake Chad Basin Crisis along with Nigeria, Chad and Niger. In the North-West and South-West regions, armed groups seeking to form an independent state are engaged in a brutal battle with Cameroon’s military that has left civilians caught in the middle.

But perhaps the least well-known of Cameroon’s humanitarian crises can be found in the east of the country, near the border with the Central African Republic (CAR).

Political and sectarian violence exploded in CAR in 2013. By 2014 many citizens had fled their homes and sought safety in other parts of the country. But others decided that they would only be safe if they left their country altogether, and fled across the border into Cameroon. As a result, as of March 2021 there are around 290,000 Central African refugees living in Cameroon.

According to ACAPS, around 30 per cent of these refugees are living in refugee camps. Camps like Lolo refugee camp, home to 12,395 refugees and run by UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.

NRC will not ignore this crisis. We are responding to the most neglected crises in the world, helping people in desperate need. Support our work today.

Aissatou, 30, is another refugee from CAR living in Lolo camp.

When she fled in 2014, she initially left her village and went to a nearby town. But she spent only five days there before violence forced her to flee again and she crossed the border into Cameroon with her family.

After arriving in Lolo, she received food support and continued to receive it even after the funding cuts. This was because one of her children was severely malnourished and she was considered to be highly vulnerable. She received assistance in the form of cash on a mobile phone. But even this assistance might be nearing its end.

“UNHCR gave us mobile phones and would send us a text message that we could show in a shop and simply choose whatever we needed. We used this to buy rice, oil, pasta, tomatoes, meat, even sauces. But they only selected a few people for these mobile cash transfers.

“Those of us that received this assistance would often share the little that we could with our neighbours that didn’t receive anything. UNHCR told us the assistance would be for two years and now those two years are up. We don’t know if it will be renewed or not.”

While many refugees are in camps like Lolo, most (around 70 per cent) are actually living in villages alongside Cameroonian communities, who have welcomed them generously.

Hapsata, 62, has lived in the village of Gaïna, in the East region of Cameroon, since 2014.

“When we arrived in this village, we went to speak with the village chief. He allowed us to stay here and even granted us this land, which was still bush that we had to clear. We constructed small houses to sleep in and the village chief gave us some fields to farm.”

This display of generosity and hospitality on the part of the Cameroonian host community is noteworthy, especially in an era where refugees are often vilified and scapegoated as lazy, dangerous and expensive.

We spoke to the chief of a Cameroonian village to better understand the perspective of host communities.

NRC will not ignore these crises. We are responding to the most neglected crises in the world, helping people in desperate need. Support our work today.

Younousa Ibrahim, 48, left his village in CAR and fled to Bedobo village in 2014. He says that freedom of movement is one of the major problems that refugees living in Cameroon experience.

“When I’m travelling on public transport and get stopped at checkpoints, I bring out my (refugee) ID card. When they see on the card that I’m a refugee, they say: ‘Where are you going? You refugees are not allowed to move freely.”

“They say that our refugee ID means we should stay where we are and not move. Even if we fall seriously sick or try to visit a sick relative, they stop us and send us back. So, we are here like prisoners. We are not allowed to move freely. They just want us to stay in this village.”

Mounira, 11, was only four years old when she arrived in Cameroon after fleeing CAR with her parents. She is one of the children receiving their birth certificates today. She understands the importance of birth certificates.

However, birth certificates alone are not going to alleviate the challenges that refugees in Cameroon face. Waning food assistance, difficult conditions in camps and limited freedom of movement for those in the villages are still major challenges.

The hardship of over 290,000 refugees in Cameroon is unfortunately completely under the radar. The dwindling international attention to this crisis coupled with reduced financial support from donors has led to the downsizing and even the closure of some of the humanitarian agencies providing assistance to refugees in eastern Cameroon.

It is vital that the international community takes a renewed interest in the plight of Central African refugees in Cameroon in order to meet the enormous needs.

You have the power to stop this neglect. The more you know, see and hear about these refugees, the less they will be neglected.