Nationality in Cameroon is governed by the 1968 Code de la Nationalité. The law provides both women and men rights to transmit nationality to children, subject to rules establishing descent for children born out of wedlock. It also provides that a child born in Cameroon who does not acquire any other nationality at birth is Cameroonian. However, a woman has no right to transmit her nationality to a foreign husband.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has expressed concern regarding the large number of births which are not being registered, despite such registration being obligatory.
The resolution of the conflict over the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula, which in 2006 was officially transferred from Nigeria to Cameroon territory, has led to the risk of statelessness. Most of those who remained in now-Cameroonian Bakassi continue to consider themselves Nigerian, but have no identity documents recognising them as either Nigerian, and have also not acquired Cameroonian citizenship.
By Ayang MacDonald The government of Cameroon has brought two bills to parliament which are vital for the country’s digital transformation journey. They are a bill that introduces a new civil registration dispensation in the country with several novelties, as […]
By NGALA KILLIAN CHIMTOM MAYOS, Cameroon (AP) — The morning sun filtered through the forest canopy, casting dappled light on this village in Cameroon. For the Baka Indigenous community, it was a timeless image. But a passing truck broke the […]
Proposal could extend legal identity to tens of thousands By Ayang Macdonald The Parliament of Cameroon is examining a bill that will allow the country to accede to two United Nations Conventions relating to the recognition of stateless persons. If […]
By Ayang Macdonald Along the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean in southwestern Cameroon lies an oil-rich peninsular called Bakassi, a territory full of history. Once controlled by Nigeria for dozens of years, the disputed area is now under the control […]
Hussain, Taofik Oyewo (2023) “Statelessness in the Bakassi Peninsula: A Humanitarian Crisis in the Making,” Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies: Vol. 5: Iss. 2. The Bakassi Peninsula is a resource-rich region straddling the border between Cameroon and Nigeria. […]
By Emmanuel K Dogbevi Applying for and getting a travel document such as a passport in most African countries can be a traumatic experience for most citizens. Despite advances in technology, which normally should improve service delivery in particular for […]
By Ayang Macdonald The pilot phase of a project is underway to issue 500,000 birth certificates to children who do not yet have the foundational identity document in Cameroon. The project was launched recently in Batouri, a town in the […]
Extracts relevant to Africa: Implementation of the Global Action Plan Action 1: Resolve existing major situations of statelessness On 12 December, during Kenya’s 59th Jamhuri Day (Independence day) celebrations, President Dr. William Ruto announced that the Government will “initiate modalities […]
By Ayang Macdonald Ashu M. just clocked 20 years this November, the legal age for voting in the central African nation of Cameroon. The enthusiastic young man is looking forward to enlisting his name on the biometric voter roll in […]
Par : Georges Macaire Eyenga, Gaëtan Omgba Mimboe, Joseph Fabrice Bindzi Dans Critique internationale 2022/4 (N° 97), pages 113 à 134 Les crises d’identification des sociétés postcoloniales ne portent pas toujours sur la définition de l’étranger, du marginal ou du passant. […]
Le 21 juillet 2022, au camp des réfugiés de Maroua, le chef-lieu de la région de l’Extrême-nord du Cameroun, le Haut-commissariat des Nations unies pour les réfugiés (HCR) a procédé à la remise de 1 000 actes de naissances aux […]
Le 10 mars 2022, à l’hôtel de ville de Yaoundé, le ministre de la Décentralisation et du Développement Local (Minddevel) Georges Elanga Obam a présidé la cérémonie officielle de lancement de l’opération de comptabilisation des actes d’état civil existants depuis […]