Assessing the Challenges of Internally Displaced Persons in Times of Armed Conflict: The Case of Cameroon

Abstract

From time immemorial, humanity has been characterised by displacement which could be wilful or forceful. Forced displacement is caused by varied factors amongst which we have armed conflict and persons displaced from this are oftentimes plagued by challenges. Using observation and interviews with the help of the constructivist theory, its evident Cameroon struggling with a number of armed conflicts, has IDPs from these faced with challenges ranging from poverty, lodging, health, education, hate speech and so on which are consequences of their being displaced by armed conflict. These defies from findings are inherent to the conflict and at times related to the IDPs’ cohabitation with the host. Difficulties which explains the efforts made by the state and other actors to provide these IDPs with live saving skills for their survival, material assistance, lodging and many more; to remedy these challenges though more could be done in terms of ensuring proper cohabitation between the IDPs and their host, ensuring the resolution of the conflict responsible for the force displacement and safeguarding the protection of these IDPs from unscrupulous persons in the case of the IDPs of the Boko Haram Insurgency and the Anglophone conflict in Cameroon.