Le régime juridique des étrangers au Cameroun

Paragraph 2 - The uncertainty of the statute of the stateless person

, Approximately 40 million children are every year not recorded with their birth. They are private of nationality and juridically recognized ascent^154(*). How they can « to be integrated juridically » in a State which does not recognize its nationality to them ? This phenomenon of apatridie is quite real in Cameroun where we count, indeed, of the thousands of individuals living on the territory and deprived of its nationality. We will quote the example of approximately ten thousand children^155(*). Unfortunately, those do not profit from any follow-up of the State because, beyond the problems involved in their integration (A), is posed that of the extent of discriminations (B).

A) The question of integration

Article 32 of the Convention on the statute of the stateless people encourages the States to facilitate, as far as possible, the assimilation and the naturalization of the interested parties. However the question remains unanswered to Cameroun where no suitable legislation exists. The ten thousand above mentioned children have been born, for the majority, parents of Chadian extraction established with the country for several years. These children neither are recorded with the marital status of Chad, nor with that of Cameroun. They do not have thus any Cameronian chance to be naturalized whereas they were born and resident in this country. Moreover, the State does not express any interest to put a term at the apatridie. As example, he hardly worries about the problem of the inexistence of the birth notifications in many villages located in the anglophone part of the country. However, such an attitude supports the apatridie^156(*).

This exclusion of the stateless people of the right to a nationality does not meet at all the standards of the international law into force because the State should grant its nationality to them. Deprived of nationality, these expatriates suffer from « legal brittleness » and can be regarded as « civilly dead ». The indifference of the Cameronian authorities is not explained because article 15 of the DUDH (legal instrument integrated in the constitutional preamble) lays out why « any individual to a nationality be is entitled ». Moreover, it is known that to grant a citizenship the stateless person one of largest constitutes « rights » that the government can grant^157(*). It is under the terms of this right that the individual « exist civilly " within the State and can truly affirm itself in other countries. Also, by posting such a satisfying vis-a-vis the situation of the stateless people, Cameroun strongly contributes to increase the rates of apatridie in the world. This act serves the international law absolutely.

In other countries confronted with the same reality, the legislator knew éradiquer this plague. In Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, the problem of the Banyamulenge stateless people arose a long time. The constitution of transition from April 05 2003 put an end there in its article 14 which lays out : « all the ethnic groups and nationalities of which people and the territory constituted what became Congo (at present the Democratic Republic of Congo) with independence, must profit from the protection and equal rights under the law as citizens ». Since this date, all Banyamulenge acquired Congolese nationality. And the project of constitution of its IIIe République worked out in May 2005 falls under same logic.

Beyond the problems involved in their integration, discriminations which live the stateless people are very important.

* ¹⁵⁴ UNCHR, Refugees, Volume 1, N° 122, Milan, 2001, p.7.

* ¹⁵⁵ Revue Laltchad presses, file on the Chadians of Cameroun, second part, COp Cit.

* ¹⁵⁶ PACAUD (Cecile), «  Neither from here, nor moreover  ? Analyze process of social construction of the apatridie  ». ( http://www.uhb.fr/sc_humaines/ceriem/documents/cc4/cc4cecil.htm)

* ¹⁵⁷ UNHCR, Refugees, Volume 2, NR  ° 112, Milan, 1998, pp.14-15.