Abstract

 Cameroon has a series of proliferated laws, legal provisions, and institutions having overlapping mandates in various documents regarding the protection and promotion of foreigners’ rights residing in the territory. Despite the available laws, international law remains the main instrument that regulates foreigners’ treatment within the state. Even though with the establishment of laws, these laws, for a long period, have become obscure and obsolete. Migrants continue to experience aspects of violence, discrimination, and expulsion regardless of the status they occupy. States, on their part, suffer especially when these foreigners indulge in fraudulent activities that affect the security and sovereignty of the state. These problems faced by migrants despite the availability of local laws on foreigners’ protection have instigated the posing of questions in order to ascertain the adequacy of the lawful protection of foreigners in Cameroon.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

This chapter is the introductory chapter. It treats the background to the study, research problems, research questions, objectives and methodology. Justification of  the importance of the subject as well as the significance. The scope of the study, limitation, definition of key terms and synopsis of chapter are also treated.

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The phrase “the right to work” was coined by the French socialist leader Louis Blanc in light of the social turmoil of the early 19th century and rising unemployment in the wake of the 1846 financial crisis which led up to the French Revolution of 1848.  The right to property was a crucial demand in early quests for political freedom and equality, and against feudal control of property. Property can serve as the basis for the entitlements that ensure the realization of the right to an adequate standard of living and it was only property owners which were initially granted civil and political rights, such as the right to vote. Because not everybody is a property owner, the right to work was enshrined to allow everybody to attain an adequate standard of living.  Today discrimination on the basis of property ownership is recognised as a serious threat to the equal enjoyment of human rights by all and non-discrimination clauses in international human rights instruments frequently include property as a ground on the basis of which discrimination is prohibited (see the right to equality before the law).

The right to work is the concept that people have a human right to work, or engage in productive employment, and may not be prevented from doing so. The right to work is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law through its inclusion in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, where the right to work emphasizes economic, social and cultural development.

The main text the 1996 Constitution has specifically incorporated some fundamental rights and freedoms mentioned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights, the United Nations Charter, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights as well as other known ratified conventions.

No one shall be persecuted, arrested or detained except in cases of and according to the manner determined by law. The law shall ensure the right of every person to a fair hearing before the court. Every accused is presumed innocent until found guilty during hearings conducted in strict compliance with the law. Every person has a right to life, to physical and moral integrity and to humane treatment in all circumstances. Under no circumstances, should anyone be subjected to torture or to cruel inhumane or degrading treatment.

In this sphere, it will be necessary for us to have an inside view of the country’s legal climate with a view to ascertaining whether foreigners living in Cameroon are accorded legal protection. This analysis is to demonstrate that the country has adhered to its binding international commitments and instruments in maintaining the standards of protecting foreigners among its citizens.

The legal regime or network for the protection of foreigners in Cameroon is of fundamental importance for the general protection given to citizens. At the national level, there is an arsenal of legislation protecting civil, economic, and political rights of nationals and foreigners alike. The country’s Constitution of 1996 as amended in 2008^[1] emphasizes state’s obligation to respect and protect the human rights of all persons residing in its territory. The provision in the preamble also reaffirms Cameroon’s adherence to the Universal Declaration of Human and Peoples Rights, 1948, as well as other human rights conventions to which Cameroon is a party.

However foreign workers are at times discriminated upon in their work places, they are not given equal treatment as Cameroonians and as such it becomes hell for them.

Foreigners are often subjected to discrimination because of their color and race, or their actual or perceived religion, or a combination of these, and they may be the target of unfavorable treatment simply because of their migrant status.^[2]

One manifestation of discrimination against migrants is their concentration, often regardless of their skill levels in “3D” jobs,^[3] where protection is often inadequate or absent in law or in practice^[4].

National migration policies are more inclined to provide for equal opportunities and treatment between nationals and migrant workers in high-skilled positions than those in unskilled and low-status jobs. High-skilled migrants are usually offered more guarantees to shift towards permanent settlement than the low skilled. Such preferences are doubly hard on low-skilled workers, who are already particularly vulnerable to exploitation and violations of their rights. If low skills are the result of denied equal opportunities in education or at work in their countries of origin because of their sex or religion or race, inferior treatment of low-skilled migrant workers in destination countries further aggravates discrimination. Resistance towards providing equal treatment with nationals is much stronger in respect of social security rights, employment mobility, and access to employment and vocational training

This is why we are carrying out this research to find out the nature, causes and of this violation of rights of foreign workers  and to make recommendations to address any issues raised.

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