Population figures
Total country population
29,394,433
Forcibly displaced population
Refugees (under UNHCR's mandate):
484,195
Asylum-seekers:
11,596
IDPs (of concern to UNHCR):
1,036,775
Other people in need of international protection:
0
Other
Statelessness persons
0
Host community
0
Others of concern to UNHCR
13,800
Country context
Cameroon is situated in Central Africa, sharing borders with Nigeria to the west, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south, while its southwestern coastline lies on the Gulf of Guinea. The protection of refugees in Cameroon is governed by Law No. 2005/006 of 27 July 2005, which establishes the criteria for recognition and rights of refugees, and by Decree No. 2011/389 of 29 November 2011, establishing the national asylum structures, including the Eligibility Commission.
Cameroon plays a significant role as a host country for refugees, primarily from neighboring regions affected by conflict, including the Central African Republic (CAR) and Nigeria. It also hosts asylum-seekers and refugees from other countries, including Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda. Refugees and asylum-seekers are found across urban and rural areas, and in refugee sites in the East, Adamawa, North, and Far North regions.
...In its Northwest and Southwest regions, the government forces are fighting against armed separatist groups leading to the forced displacement of civilians. In the Far North, instability related to Boko Haram persists. Additionally, adverse weather events have exacerbated the situation, contributing to flooding, environment degradation, and tensions over natural resources, especially in the Far North, aggravating displacement and intercommunal conflict.
As of December 2024, Cameroon is home to over 2 million forcibly displaced individuals, including approximately 426,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, over 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), and more than 658,000 returnees. Many of the refugees, particularly those from Nigeria and CAR, have been residing in the country for over a decade. Access to basic services remains a key challenge for displaced populations in Cameroon. These populations are dispersed across urban centers, rural areas, and refugee sites, with uneven access to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities.
Cameroon ratified the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (the Kampala Convention) on 6 April 2015, depositing its instrument on 24 May 2017. National efforts for its implementation continue through coordination with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and humanitarian actors and the adoption of the Law N°2024/015 of 23 December 2024 governing civil protection in Cameroon. UNHCR continues to support the state authorities towards the domestication of the Kampala convention.
Following through on its commitments during the 2019 High-Level Segment on Statelessness the Government of Cameroon issued a presidential decree of 24 July 2024 for the accession to the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions. The instruments are yet to be deposited to the UN Secretariat. Law N°2024/016 of 23 December 2024 on the organization of the civil status registration system in Cameroon introduces a number of innovations, mainly concerning the extension of time limits for declaring and registering births. This is an important step in ongoing efforts to prevent and reduce statelessness in the country.
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Sources: UNHCR Refugee Data finder https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/ | 2024 mid-year figures. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects 2022, Online Edition https://population.un.org/wpp/assets/Files/WPP2022_Data_Sources.pdf