Humanitarian workers in East Cameroon are reporting growing numbers of children arriving from the Central African Republic in a state of severe malnutrition. Families fleeing violence across the border often walk for weeks through the bush, surviving on wild roots and whatever they can carry, before they reach the entry points along the frontier.
A long and dangerous journey
Refugees describe leaving their villages in a hurry as armed groups moved through their areas. Many hid in the forest before attempting the crossing, avoiding roads where they feared being stopped. By the time they reach Cameroon, young children are often the most affected: thin, dehydrated, suffering from diarrhoea and respiratory infections, and in some cases too weak to eat on their own.
Border towns and villages in the East Region, including Gbiti, Garoua-Boulai and Kentzou, have become the first point of contact. Local communities, who themselves live with limited resources, have shared food and shelter, but the scale of the needs is beyond what host families can absorb.
Health teams under pressure
Aid agencies working alongside Cameroonian health authorities have set up screening at entry points to identify malnourished children as early as possible. Children found to be in danger are referred to therapeutic feeding centres and hospitals in towns such as Bertoua and Batouri. Medical staff say early detection makes the difference between a child who recovers within weeks and one who does not survive.
What screening involves
- Measuring the arm circumference of young children to detect acute malnutrition
- Vaccination against measles and polio for new arrivals
- Referral of the most serious cases to stabilisation centres
- Supplementary food rations for pregnant and breastfeeding women
Moving families to safer sites
Refugee agencies have also been working to transfer new arrivals away from the immediate border area to organised sites where water, sanitation, food distribution and health care can be provided more reliably. Relocation is not always welcomed: some families prefer to stay close to the frontier, hoping to return home quickly or to find missing relatives who may cross later.
Family reunification is a major concern. Many children arrive without one or both parents, having been separated during attacks or on the road. Humanitarian teams register unaccompanied children and try to trace their families on both sides of the border.
A crisis that needs sustained support
Aid workers warn that the situation cannot be handled with emergency measures alone. Without regular funding for food, medicine and staff, the gains made at reception points can quickly be lost. The East Region was already one of the poorer parts of Cameroon before the influx, and host communities need support too, so that tension does not grow over land, water and grazing.
For now, the faces of the children arriving at the border tell the story most clearly: the conflict in the Central African Republic is being paid for, above all, by its youngest citizens.