Cameroon has been ranked as the world’s most neglected displacement crisis, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) annual report. The country overtakes Burkina Faso, which held the top spot for the past two years.

A Crisis of Global Neglect

The NRC’s ranking is based on three key criteria:

• Lack of humanitarian funding
• Minimal media attention
• Absence of effective political initiatives

Cameroon is home to over 1 million internally displaced people, with civilians in the Northwest and Southwest regions suffering violent clashes between state forces and separatist groups since 2016.

Multiple Conflicts Driving Displacement

The Lake Chad Basin, in Cameroon’s Far North, remains a battleground for non-state armed groups, with violence and climate-driven water scarcity worsening displacement.

Additionally, Cameroon hosts nearly half a million refugees from neighboring Central African Republic and Nigeria.

Severe Underfunding and Dwindling Aid

The NRC describes Cameroon’s crisis as “a case study in global neglect: little diplomacy, underfunded and underreported”.

In 2024, humanitarian funding covered less than half of Cameroon’s response needs, and the situation may worsen as major donors—including the U.S. and several European nations—cut foreign aid budgets.

Urgent Call for Action

NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland warned, “Displacement isn’t a distant crisis: it’s a shared responsibility. We must stand up and demand a reversal of brutal aid cuts which are costing more lives by the day”.

Eight African nations made the NRC’s list, including Ethiopia (2nd), Mali (5th), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (7th).

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