Le régime juridique des étrangers au Cameroun

B) Extent of discriminations

The statute of the stateless person is governed by article 12 of the Convention of September 28, 1954 relating to the apatridie, which subjects it to the law country of its residence or in the absence of residence, with the law of the country of its residence^158(*). It is on this basis that the States must improve this statute^159(*) while allowing the stateless person to profit from the basic rights.

But that is not the case in Cameroun. On a purely illustrative basis, article 22 of above mentioned Convention recommends to the States to grant to the stateless people primary education teaching. Moreover, article 13 of the PIDESC lays out that «primary education teaching must be obligatory and accessible free to all ». In the same way, the preamble to the Cameronian constitution of 1996 affirms that « the State ensures the child the right to the instruction, primary education teaching is obligatory ». These various texts require a minimum of obligation on behalf of the State, namely : to ensure without any discrimination the basic instruction, elementary education with all the children. By deduction, the children stateless people are also interested. However, the practice shows that the ten thousand children stateless people living on the territory do not have any possibility of access to the instruction^160(*). In short, the State nothing made forever to carry out this right in their favor.

Consequently, we can affirm that the stateless person in Cameroun east truly « a vessel on the open sea^161(*) sailing without any house^162(*) ».

In order to better apprehend the evils which undermine the various categories from abroad who live on the own territory, it is important to seek the causes of them.

* ¹⁵⁸ According to GUINCHARD (S) and MONTAGNIER (G) (Dir.), COp Cit, p 220 and p 508 respectively, the residence is the place in which a person is supposed to remain permanently  ; in substantive law, the residence is located instead of the principal establishment. The residence, as for it, is the place where is, in fact, a person  ; the residence is opposed to the residence which is the place where it is located in right.

* ¹⁵⁹ MAYER (Pierre), deprived International law, 6th edition, Paris, Montchrestien, 1998, pp. 551-552.

* ¹⁶⁰ Chadian press review Laltchad presses, file on the Chadians of Cameroun, COp Cit.

* ¹⁶¹ In public international law, the open sea is the marine space located beyond the jurisdictions national and escaping sovereignty from the States.

* ¹⁶² In public international law, the house is the nationality of a ship.