Cameroon Tops NRC’s List of World’s Most Neglected Displacement Crises

According to the NRC, decision-makers must recognise that displacement isn't a distant crisis; it's a shared responsibility that cannot be ignored.

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

Cameroon has been named the world’s most neglected displacement crisis, according to the latest annual report by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), marking a grim milestone for a country gripped by three overlapping and under-reported humanitarian emergencies.

The report, released this week, highlights global indifference, severe underfunding, and a dire lack of political engagement as the driving forces behind the deepening suffering of millions of displaced and vulnerable people across the country.

Cameroon’s humanitarian catastrophe is fueled by conflict in the Far North region, violence in the North West and South West, and spillover effects from instability in the Central African Republic. As of 2024, over 3.4 million people were in urgent need of protection and humanitarian assistance, with more than 1.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and nearly half a million refugees and asylum seekers stranded in limbo across the country.

A Crisis Largely Ignored

Despite the staggering numbers, Cameroon’s displacement crisis has rarely made headlines. The NRC report points to a lack of international media coverage, which has left the suffering of millions invisible to the global public. At the same time, humanitarian appeals remain drastically underfunded – with only 32% of the funding required for protection needs met in 2024.

"Life is complicated at times, and we get by with a little farming and working in small businesses to try and find enough to eat. We worry about the future of our children. They need to go to school. We have been forgotten here in Cameroon and it's very difficult for us to even think about the future of our families," said Djeinabou, 32, a refugee from the Central African Republic living in Cameroon.”

Most displaced people live outside formal camps, often in precarious and unsafe conditions, lacking access to healthcare, education, and legal documentation. An estimated 1.4 million children need educational support, while 2.8 million people face acute food insecurity, a situation worsened by conflict, droughts, and the worst rainy season in the Far North since 1990.

Displacement isn’t a Distant Crisis: it’s a Shared Responsibility

Egeland warned that shrinking aid budgets, coupled with growing nationalism in traditionally generous donor countries, is deepening the crisis and threatening the future of millions.

“International solidarity is being overtaken by increasingly introverted and nationalistic policies in previously generous donor nations. This is deepening the neglect of people affected by crisis and displacement at a time when a record number of people have been forced from their homes. Across Europe, the United States and elsewhere we have seen donors turn their backs on people in their hour of need,” said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of NRC. 

“It is critical that we do not accept donors’ abandonment of aid as a foregone conclusion. 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.” 

NRC’s annual list of neglected displacement crises is based on three criteria: lack of humanitarian funding, lack of media attention, and a lack of effective political engagement to end conflict and improve conditions for displaced people. 

The crisis in Ethiopia ranks second, its highest-ever placement on the list, while Mozambique, in third, features for the first time. Burkina Faso, which topped the list for the previous two years, ranks fourth. The Democratic Republic of Congo features eighth after ranking in the top three since this report's inception. These shifts do not reflect meaningful improvements but instead, they highlight a harsh reality: nearly all protracted humanitarian crises are now being neglected. 

“Adequate funding is essential. But funding alone cannot halt the suffering. Without effective conflict resolution, disaster prevention and diplomatic engagement, these protracted crises will go on and on. More people will be displaced, and more lives will be shattered,” said Egeland.