Management of Refugees : Strategic, Operational Mechanisms Reviewed

Cameroon is host to an estimated 485,342 refugees from more than 30 countries, as at October 2022. This makes the country one of the world’s leading countries hosting a considerable number of people seeking international protection.  In a bit to enhance the efficient and effective management of this vulnerable group, especially through the participation of every stakeholder, the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, in August 2021, established the mutli-stakeholder dialogue on refugee management in Cameroon. The body whose first session was held in November 2022 aims to optimise the coordination of initiative in favour of refugees in Cameroon. The second session which therefore held yesterday March 27, 2024 at the Ministry of External Relations again served as a platform for reflections on strategic and operational mechanisms to that effect, and analyse the implementation of previous recommendations. Presided at by the Secretary General, a.i. of the Ministry of External Relations, Bindzi Edzindi Edmond Gervais, on behalf of the Minister, deliberations centred on four main points, amongst them, discussing the future of the Minawao Refugee Camp and the Gourengel Transit Centre, evaluating the appropriateness of drawing up a national strategy of supporting refugees, optimising the coordination of refugees-related initiatives, and follow up on the recommendations of the maiden session. 
With Cameroon hosting about half a million number of refugees and asylum seekers, and with them principally installed in the Far North, North, Adamawa, East, Littoral and Centre Regions, the Minister Plenipotentiary said these people cohabit at a 70 per cent rate with host communities, sharing the same resources and challenges. He said that is why Cameroon has proceeded with legislative and structural reforms in favour of the protection of the rights and social inclusion of refugees. Bindzi Edzindi Edmond Gervais added that in this dynamism,...