ABSTRACT

According to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon (2014), Displacement remains arguably the most significant humanitarian challenge facing the world. Of the 33.3 million IDPs in the world, Sub-Saharan Africa hosts 15 million, with an increase of 7.5% between 2013 and 2014. As the number of IDPs continues to increase, attempts at management become more challenging for riddled countries. Notably, global efforts at managing displacement have concentrated more on refugees than IDPs, yet the latter equally constitute a challenge to global civilization. Underpinned by the human needs theory, this study interrogates the management of internal displacement in Africa with focus on northern Cameroon. The study adopts the quantitative research design, employs survey method for data collection, and simple percentage as well as content analyses techniques for data analysis. With much focus on challenges, and degree of success recorded by the Kampala convention of 2009. it is summed that no one country is more successful than the other in IDPs management, rather all countries have a lot to learn from each other, and there is an urgent need to improve on the management of IDPs in the whole of Africa.        

                              CHAPTER   ONE

• INTRODUCTION

In Africa as a whole and in Cameroon in particular, people are delocalized from their various areas of residence and domiciles within the country. The internal displacement of people does not affect a particular range of persons. Intra-regional armed conflicts, natural disasters, together  with  economic  and socio-political struggles  have continued to result in the situation of internally  displaced persons  in  Africa in general and in of persons. It does not take into consideration age, or sex. Every person living in a locality facing such situations warranting him to move will obviously move. Compelled to leave their homes, Internally displaced  persons (IDPs) are also victims of  various forms of deprivations such as the loss of their homes and are  usually exposed  to particular  risks in the domain of  protection that is armed attacks in case of  abuses during their running away ,family separation  in which there is a great increase in the number of separated children or unaccompanied . There is equally the risk to be sexually violated ,the arbitrary deprivation of their lands, their goods and displacement to zones barked by inhospitality in which they are most of  the time excluded, marginalized , discriminated upon . Faced with this, the IDPs are forced to make a remarkable effort to survive.  There were approximately 33.3 million displaced  persons across the world, half of which are in Africa[1]. Hence  Africa is the continent having the highest rate of internally displaced persons in the world. Internally displaced persons upon safe arrival at their new  but  temporary location  have  basic  needs such as reasonable shelter ,food, portable water, healthcare, social security and several other needs .As examples of wars which led to the internal displacement of people in general and of children in particular were ;the Biafra  war in Nigeria from (1967-1970), the liberation struggle in Guinea Bissau(1963-1973), and the Nigeria- Cameroon  Bakassi Penisula conflict[2]. One  must equally  know that there  are equally diseases like Cholera, natural  disasters such as the Lake Nyos disaster which  occurred in 1986 which in one way or the other equally forcefully moved people reason  being that  a great proportion of  the population of the affected area is forced to settle in other  areas  which they deem better for their settlement. In a more specific  illustration, that is ; with   the  case of Cameroon, some  research have proved that  [3]there are 44,213,000 IDPs in north -west and south west regions of Cameroon   [4](OCHA December 2018), 237,349 of  returnees  in far north region  due to the Anglophone crisis and the Boko- Haram conflicts in the far north region.  ^[5]The displaced persons have lost their source of livelihood resources and savings to disaster and suffer great hardship. The government is responsible for providing them with basic needs during their stay in camp and adopting, implementing policies and techniques on how to manage them.[6] It is evident that IDPs become immediately dependent on others for basic needs such as shelter, water, limiting their participation to economic and political activities in their areas of displacement. Above  the basic needs ,that is shelter, water, food, there  is the need  for  internally  displaced children to benefit from several other rights ;education ,health and several others  due to the  fact that they are part and parcel of the Cameroon population and therefore should not be exempted from  benefiting from these various rights and privileges. The non-respect of the rights of these persons worldwide   in general and in Cameroon in particular has been a call for concern.

1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The  situation of  internally displaced persons in general and of children  in particular in  Cameroon  is as a result of the Boko- Haram conflicts in the far north region of Cameroon ,and the Anglophone crisis in South West regions. Concerning the Boko- Haram conflict, it is a [7] branch of the Islamic state of Iraq and Levant. It has been active in Nigeria since 2009. The name of the group means «western or non-Islamic education is a sin » .[8]The Boko- Haram group began to have interest for Cameroon between 2011 and 2013 where it started spreading its ideology mainly in the Logone and Chari and Mayo Sava divisions of the far north. [9]The population of children in Cameroon under the age of  18 is 14% of the 22.2 million total population, [10]16% , children under the age of 5. This depicts the fact that children constitute  a great proportion of the population in Cameroon .The  Boko-Haram conflicts which involved the killing of people, the  bombing of  houses  and villages gave no choice to the young population to migrate within their country for a better living. On the other hand was  the anglophone crisis which is  the most significant and most recent situation paving way for the internal displacement of persons . This crisis has seen a considerable degree of armed violence in the North -West and South- West regions of Cameroon. [11] The socio-political crisis that began in October 2016 in the Anglophone North- West and South West regions mutated into armed conflict at the end of 2017. This crisis has witnessed a considerable degree of armed violence in the North West and South -West regions of Cameroon . It can trace its origin back to nearly 60 years ago resulting from the dual trusteeship and mandate rule . ^[12]In January 1^st1960, French Cameroon gained independence and became Cameroun  republic . Later that year, Nigeria gained  its independence from Britain and became a Federal republic . The British controlled southern Cameroons was then separated from Nigeria and was due to achieve full independence on October 1^st 1961. Since then, Anglophones have pushed for autonomy. This call is actually supported in a UN resolution passed in April 1961 that defines the joining of the 2 former   territories as a federation of 2 states equal in status and autonomous.  In October 2016, lawyers went on strike in an effort to make the government translate the OHADA Uniform Act in English and to make certain reforms in the justice system as far as common law is concerned in which the lawyers were roughly manhandled by the security forces. The Anglophone crisis resulted to a lot of destruction of property, loss of lives thereby forcing people and children in particular in the affected localities to move. [13]Many persons found themselves moving to run away in order to find a place to continue the story of their lives where it ended. Some statistics have showed that there are 444.213 IDPs in the North- West and South West regions (OCHA December 2018), 237.349 returnees in the North -West and South- West regions (OCHA December 2018).

In relation to the aforementioned crisis, there has been the promulgation of texts of the Kampala convention of 2009 which will serve as a base for the future laws of Cameroon concerning the internally displaced. Internally displaced persons shall enjoy in full equality the same rights and freedoms under international and domestic law as do other persons in their country. They shall not be discriminated against in the enjoyment of any rights and freedoms on the ground that they are internally displaced. [14] These principles shall be observed by all authorities, groups and persons irrespective of their legal status and applied without any adverse distinction. The observance of these principles shall not affect the legal status of any authorities, groups or persons involved. [15] Internally displaced  persons  have  the  right to seek safety in another part of the country , the right to leave their country, the right to seek asylum in another country and the right to be protected   against  forcible return to or  resettlement  in any place where their life , safety , liberty and / or  health would be at risk. More to that, the convention on the rights of the child brings forth articles on the protection of children. [16] For purposes of the present convention, a child means every human being below the age of 18 years unless the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.  Hence, internally displaced children are vested with rights which must be respected in Cameroon.

In October 2009, African states adopted the world’s first and only binding continent-wide treaty to protect people forcibly displaced within their countries (internally displaced persons, or IDPs). Its full title is the African Union (AU) Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, but the treaty is better known as the Kampala Convention.

The Kampala Convention builds upon the 1998 UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, the internationally recognized framework on internal displacement, which restates the principles of international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law applicable to IDPs. The Kampala Convention gives these non-binding principles the force of law in Africa.

In line with the Guiding Principles, the Kampala Convention’s Article 1 defines IDPs as “persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border”.

According to the convention States Parties shall respect and ensure respect for their obligations under international law, including human rights and humanitarian law, so as to prevent and avoid conditions that might lead to the arbitrary displacement of persons;[17]