Cameroon currently hosts some 116,000 Nigerians, according to data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). More than 112,000 of them live in the Far North region, including 68,000 in the Minawao refugee camp. Over 46,000 live outside the refugee camps. "UNHCR is working with the government and its partners to guarantee access to their rights, promote self-reliance, and find solutions such as voluntary return and resettlement," says the UN.

Nigerian refugees in the Far North region fled the war that the authorities of this neighboring country have been waging against Boko Haram insurgents since 2009. Boko Haram's ambition has always been to establish a caliphate in the northern part of Nigeria. This fictitious caliphate is expected to spill over into Cameroonian territory, hence the incursions carried out as early as 2014 in Cameroon's Far North.

These attacks led to the displacement of populations. The UN counts over 427,000 internally displaced people in the region. In addition to the war against Boko Haram, floods and intercommunity conflicts are also at the root of these displacements.

On the other hand, according to the UN, more than 60,000 Cameroonian refugees are hosted by Nigeria. They fled the war between the army and separatist militias in the North-West and South-West regions bordering Nigeria.

L.A.