A critical humanitarian concern in Cameroon is its growing population of internally displaced people (IDPs), which according to UNHCR has increased substantially in recent months because of violence in northern parts of the country. As of mid-2020 there were nearly one million IDPs in the country, in addition to the more than 400,000 refugees. But […]
Last updated: February 2026
Although there is very limited information available on Cameroon's policies and practices regarding immigration detention, reports have revealed that since 2025 the country has had a deal with the United States to accept third-country nationals deported as part off the U.S. administration's immigration crackdown. The deportees have included men and women from African countries--including Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, and Zimbabwe--who were detained in a "state-owned" compound locate din they the capital city, Yaoundé. (New York Times, 14 February 2026)
DETENTION CAPACITY
ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION
ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA
PRISON DATA
POPULATION DATA
LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
Does the Country Have Specific Laws that Provide for Migration-Related Detention?
GROUNDS FOR DETENTION
Criminal Penalties for Immigration-Related Violations
LENGTH OF DETENTION
DETENTION INSTITUTIONS
PROCEDURAL STANDARDS & SAFEGUARDS
COSTS & OUTSOURCING
COVID-19 DATA
TRANSPARENCY
MONITORING
NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING BODIES
NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISMS (OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE)
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS (NGOS)
GOVERNMENTAL MONITORING BODIES
INTERNATIONAL DETENTION MONITORING
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES & TREATY BODIES
International Treaties Ratified
Ratification Year
Observation Date
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2006
2017
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2006
2017
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1986
2017
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 10/19
Individual Complaints Procedures
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Treaty Body
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Recommendation Year
2022
Recommendation Excerpt
Refugees and asylum seekers
32. The Committee commends the State party for hosting a large number of refugees, who have fled subregional conflicts. Nevertheless, the Committee regrets the lack of information on guarantees against non-refoulement under the State party’s legal framework and the lack of updated information on the ability of refugees and asylum seekers to access basic services, including health-care services and education (art. 5).
33. The Committee recommends that the State party adopt legislative measures for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers, and ensure in law and practice full respect for the principle of non-refoulement. It also recommends that the State party adopt measures to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers can enjoy their economic and social rights, and to facilitate their integration into society.
32. The Committee commends the State party for hosting a large number of refugees, who have fled subregional conflicts. Nevertheless, the Committee regrets the lack of information on guarantees against non-refoulement under the State party’s legal framework and the lack of updated information on the ability of refugees and asylum seekers to access basic services, including health-care services and education (art. 5).
33. The Committee recommends that the State party adopt legislative measures for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers, and ensure in law and practice full respect for the principle of non-refoulement. It also recommends that the State party adopt measures to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers can enjoy their economic and social rights, and to facilitate their integration into society.
Sources
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, "Concluding observations on the combined twenty-second and
twenty-third reports of Cameroon", 26 April 2022, United Nations General Assembly, (paragraphs 32 and 33), https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/document/b5bcdd41-a95e-4d05-be1d-49089529d130
Treaty Body
Committee on the Rights of the Child
Recommendation Year
2017
Recommendation Excerpt
§ 40. "While noting that conflict and instability in neighbouring countries have resulted in, collectively, over a half a million refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons arriving in Cameroon, mostly residing in the East, North, Far North and Adamaoua regions, the Committee reiterates its previous recommendation (see CRC/C/CMR/CO/2, para. 68) and further recommends that the State party:
(a) Operationalize and adequately resource the Commission for Eligibility to the Status of Refugees, ensuring it implements child-friendly screening and registration procedures;
(b) Ensure that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration in all decisions and agreements in relation to the transfer of any asylum-seeking or refugee children, that all returns are voluntary and that the principle of non- refoulement is upheld;
(c) Develop comprehensive referral and case management frameworks for services to refugee and asylum-seeking children, particularly in the fields of physical and mental health services, education and the police and justice sectors, including the provision of free legal aid, particularly for unaccompanied and separated children;
(d) Prevent the arbitrary detention of refugee and internally displaced children;
(e) Consider acceding to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness."
(a) Operationalize and adequately resource the Commission for Eligibility to the Status of Refugees, ensuring it implements child-friendly screening and registration procedures;
(b) Ensure that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration in all decisions and agreements in relation to the transfer of any asylum-seeking or refugee children, that all returns are voluntary and that the principle of non- refoulement is upheld;
(c) Develop comprehensive referral and case management frameworks for services to refugee and asylum-seeking children, particularly in the fields of physical and mental health services, education and the police and justice sectors, including the provision of free legal aid, particularly for unaccompanied and separated children;
(d) Prevent the arbitrary detention of refugee and internally displaced children;
(e) Consider acceding to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness."
Sources
Committee on the Rights of the Child, "Concluding Observations on the Combined Third to Fifth Reports of Cameroon," CRC/C/CMR/CO/3-5, 6 July 2017, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2fC%2fCMR%2fCO%2f3-5&Lang=en
Treaty Body
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Recommendation Year
2014
Recommendation Excerpt
§18 The Committee requests the State party to take all necessary steps to enable refugees and asylum seekers to fully enjoy their economic and social rights, particularly their right to work.
The Committee requests the State party to ensure that, when an inquiry is opened under article 8, paragraph 1, of the Act on the Status of Refugees, the detention of asylum seekers is used only as a last resort and, where it is used, for as short a period as possible, that asylum seekers are not put in the same detention cells as suspects, and that feasible alternatives to detention are explored.
The Committee requests that the State party devote particular attention to the situation of refugee women and girls, who could experience double discrimination.
The Committee requests the State party to ensure that, when an inquiry is opened under article 8, paragraph 1, of the Act on the Status of Refugees, the detention of asylum seekers is used only as a last resort and, where it is used, for as short a period as possible, that asylum seekers are not put in the same detention cells as suspects, and that feasible alternatives to detention are explored.
The Committee requests that the State party devote particular attention to the situation of refugee women and girls, who could experience double discrimination.
Sources
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, "Concluding observations on the nineteenth to twenty-first periodic reports of Cameroon," CERD/C/CMR/CO/19-21, 19 August 2014, https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/document/52e9808a-e035-48a8-bb44-f6280c32ae46
Treaty Body
Committee on the Rights of the Child
Recommendation Year
2010
Recommendation Excerpt
§ 68. "The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen the protection and assistance of refugee children and:
(a) Adopt as a matter of priority the implementing Decree of the five year old Status of Refugees Act;
(b) Take the necessary measures, including allocation of adequate resources, to prevent and combat malnutrition among refugee children and ensure that they have adequate access to essential health services, education, sanitation and safe drinking water;
(c) Adopt concrete measures to protect children residing in refugee camps, particularly girls, from any form of violence, including early marriage and sexual exploitation;
(d) Implement effectively the UNHCR programme on sexual violence, prosecute and punish those responsible for violence against refugee children, and provide the victims with adequate psychological and recovery assistance;
(e) Set up, in close cooperation with UNHCR and UNICEF, a consolidated data collection system for refugee children, disaggregated by age, sex and nationality, and provide adequate resources to this end."
(a) Adopt as a matter of priority the implementing Decree of the five year old Status of Refugees Act;
(b) Take the necessary measures, including allocation of adequate resources, to prevent and combat malnutrition among refugee children and ensure that they have adequate access to essential health services, education, sanitation and safe drinking water;
(c) Adopt concrete measures to protect children residing in refugee camps, particularly girls, from any form of violence, including early marriage and sexual exploitation;
(d) Implement effectively the UNHCR programme on sexual violence, prosecute and punish those responsible for violence against refugee children, and provide the victims with adequate psychological and recovery assistance;
(e) Set up, in close cooperation with UNHCR and UNICEF, a consolidated data collection system for refugee children, disaggregated by age, sex and nationality, and provide adequate resources to this end."
Sources
Committee on the Rights of the Child, "Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 44 of the Convention," CRC/C/CMR/CO/2, 18 February 2010, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2fC%2fCMR%2fCO%2f2&Lang=en
> UN Special Procedures
> UN Universal Periodic Review
Relevant Recommendations or Observations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Recommendation Issued
No
Year Issued
2023
UPR Cycle
4th
Sources
Human Rights Council, "Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review* Cameroon", 17 November 2023, United Nations General Assembly, https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g23/259/57/pdf/g2325957.pdf
Recommendation Issued
No
Year Issued
2013
Sources
Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review* Cameroon, A/HRC/24/15, 5 July 2013, https://www.upr-info.org/sites/default/files/document/cameroon/session_16_-_april_2013/ahrc2415e.pdf
Recommendation Issued
No
Year Issued
2009
Sources
UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review* Cameroon, A/HRC/11/21, 3 March 2009, https://www.upr-info.org/sites/default/files/document/cameroon/session_4_-_february_2009/ahrc1121cmre.pdf
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
Regional Legal Instruments
Year of Ratification (Treaty) / Transposed (Directive) / Adoption (Regulation)
Observation Date
APRW, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol)2012
2012
2017
HEALTH CARE PROVISION
HEALTH IMPACTS
COVID-19
Country Updates
A critical humanitarian concern in Cameroon is its growing population of internally displaced people (IDPs), which according to UNHCR has increased substantially in recent months because of violence in northern parts of the country. As of mid-2020 there were nearly one million IDPs in the country, in addition to the more than 400,000 refugees. But there appears to be little updated information about the impact of Covid-19 on these populations. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 17 refugees in Cameroon had tested positive for the disease as of 26 August, the latest 7 cases reported following a voluntary screening campaign “carried out by the regional delegation of public health of the East region from the 10 to 16 August” (OCHA, “Cameroon: Covid-19 Emergency,” Situation Report No. 06).
The pandemic is having an important impact on the movements into and across the country. In late March, for instance, growing fears about the spread of the coronavirus spurred thousands of IDPs located in camps in the west of the country to flee to other areas in the south and the north. In the meantime, the country has been blocking people from entering the country from Chad and the Central African Republic. Preventive measures including hand washing and temperature measurements were also implemented at border crossings, according to UNHCR.
UNHCR reported that the country was setting up 40 Refugee Housing Units to facilitate the provision of isolation and quarantine facilities in the East and Adamawa regions. A 14 day quarantine has been made compulsory for all refugees and migrants coming into the country to refugee camps and systematic controls of all new arrivals are made including temperature checks and medical assessments.
There have also been concerns about the impact of the pandemic in prisons. In March 2020, Human Rights Watch reported that local NGOs have decried overcrowding in the country’s prisons and the lack of sanitary measures and distancing. Two months later, the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CL2P) revealed that many prisoners had already tested positive. The NGO warned that due to the lack of testing, this number was expected to rise. The Yaoundé prison, which has a population of more than 5,000 prisoners, has been particularly affected by the pandemic. In mid-April, following the death of several prisoners, a protest erupted at the prison. On 20 June, the Ministry of Justice said that 7,000 prisoners had been released since the start of the pandemic. Some 44 percent of those released tested positive for Covid-19, but it is unclear whether they were quarantined following their release.
Government Agencies
Migration Irrégulière - https://minjec.gov.cm/site/migration-irreguliere/
Ministre de l'Administration Territoriale - https://www.spm.gov.cm/site/?q=fr/content/atanga-nji-paul
Sureté Nationale et Défense - https://www.spm.gov.cm/site/?q=fr/gouvernement/suret%C3%A9-nationale-et-d%C3%A9fense
International Organisations
UNHCR - https://www.unhcr.org/fr/ou-nous-travaillons/pays/cameroun
IOM - https://www.iom.int/fr/countries/cameroun
NGO & Research Institutions
Amnesty Cameroon - https://www.amnesty.org/fr/location/africa/west-and-central-africa/cameroon/
Human Rights Watch - https://www.hrw.org/africa/cameroon
Crassroots Justice netwaork - https://grassrootsjusticenetwork.org/connect/organization/nes-cameroon/
