The Right to Freedom of Movement and the Protection of Refugees in Cameroon: What Prospect for Implementation?

Abstract

The issue of human right protection is a fundamental concept that has attracted the international community for their safety and livelihood. This human right protection has been encouraged in all dimensions and domains, especially when it comes to free movement of persons from one place to another. The concept of freedom of movement has been embraced with lots of high esteem as people have the possibility of moving from one area to another. This phenomenon of persons from one state to another has been encouraged by states in order to protect their dealings with each other and facilitates the effective protection of human rights among member states. The Cameroon government, as a signatory and a party to numerous human instruments, has taken the main objective in that of protecting and preserving the fundamental human rights of those entering its territory with the aim of preserving national integrity. The government of Cameroon has gone a long way in ensuring that those entering its territory should be given maximum protection on their fundamental human rights, even though in spite of all these efforts of the state in protecting the human right of refugees, most of the refugee rights are still being violated. The refugees living in Cameroon continue to doubt their stay in the country since their main aim of taking refuge in Cameroon was for the government to render them protection; rather they are filled with lots of worries as to whether it was necessary for them to seek refuge in the country in question when they cannot boast of their minimum protection. Deductive analytical approach was used which involves the explanation of social facts through the analysis of relevant texts. In this regard, two stages of analysis were involved: analysis of laws, policies and regulations on the one hand, and explanation of the manner in which they are applied and their challenges on the other. Analyzing this legal method helps us to answer questions related to the protection of refugees in Cameroon. Do the policies enacted by the Cameroon government to control refugee movement in their territory meet projected objectives?