What is the situation of the refugees from the Central African Republic?
The number of refugees from CAR arriving in Cameroon has almost tripled since 2007 from around 20,000 to 59,000 now. And, the influx of refugees, mainly Mbororo cattle herders from the north and northwest CAR, is still continuing. To provide protection to the refugees who are recognised prima facie by the Cameroon government, we keep track of the number of arrivals and every six months carry out registration in the new sites. This is not easy because the refugees are spread out over a very wide area in more than 60 different settlements. We have put in place a system to give documentation to the refugees at the same time as there are food distributions. Sometimes these documents are confiscated by the police and I have to make immediate interventions to recover them. When there is flagrant abuse, I take the case to the courts. What are the difficulties for UNHCR working in this remote part of Cameroon? The refugees are strung out along the border with CAR in a remote part of Cameroon.
