Cameroon now finds itself at the epicentre of what the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has termed on June 3 “the world’s most neglected displacement crisis”, surpassing Burkina Faso in the organization’s annual ranking for 2024.
The ranking evaluates humanitarian emergencies on the basis of three key indicators: chronic underfunding, scant media visibility, and the absence of meaningful political engagement. For the first time since 2019, Cameroon leads this ignominious list released on Tuesday, underscoring the deepening plight of a country grappling with multiple, compounding humanitarian emergencies.
The nation currently shelters over one million internally displaced individuals, most of whom have fled the violent conflict between state forces and separatist militias in the Northwest and Southwest regions—an armed struggle that has raged since 2016. Simultaneously, the far north of Cameroon remains ensnared in the persistent instability of the Lake Chad Basin, where clashes with non-state armed groups and the growing impacts of climate-induced water scarcity continue to displace populations. Adding further strain, Cameroon also hosts nearly half a million refugees from neighbouring nations such as Nigeria and the Central African Republic, thereby magnifying its humanitarian burden.
Despite the scale and complexity of these crises, global attention has remained conspicuously absent. In 2024, humanitarian assistance to Cameroon covered less than half of the nation’s needs, with further setbacks expected as key donors—including the United States and various European governments—slash their foreign aid budgets. “This is a textbook case of abandonment,” said Jan Egeland, NRC’s Secretary General. “Neglect of displacement is not benign — it is a deadly silence. Without diplomatic resolve, robust funding, and media urgency, these crises will deepen, claiming more lives in quiet obscurity.”