Déplacés et réfugiés au Cameroun: profils, itinéraires et expériences à partir des crises nigériane et centrafricaine

Abstract

In Cameroon, the victims of the Boko Haram violence in Nigeria and those of the Central African crisis are stigmatized, with varying degrees of justification, by the host populations and the government, with utter disregard for international texts that organize protection and assistance for people in distress. The humanitarian windfall, intended to help the victims, demobilizes the beneficiaries, frustrates the host populations and exacerbates the antagonisms between forced migrants and the host populations who are claiming the right to access the dividends born of the crisis. The migration crisis not only affects displaced persons and refugees, but also puts the entire society out of balance. It creates a climate of opportunism that translates into a rush towards the camps. Putting the primacy exclusively on the situation of migrants while ignoring that of the host populations offers an incomplete view of the reality. The camps, designed to accommodate this impoverished social category, are largely deserted. More victims settle outside the camps where they can move at will and take care of themselves. The confinement set for the Mbororo refugee community is an illustration of this and calls for other methods that take into account local specificities.