The government decreased victim protection efforts. The government did not maintain comprehensive statistics and did not report identifying any trafficking victims. This compared with 12 identified victims and 23 potential trafficking victims identified in 2022. NGOs identified 26 trafficking victims. The government continued to implement its victim identification and referral SOPs, but it did not report whether the SOPs were consistently used. The government continued to proactively screen vulnerable populations, particularly migrant workers traveling through airports, for trafficking indicators and maintained anti-trafficking units at Yaoundé and Douala’s international airports.
The government maintains seven Ministry of Social Affairs (MINAS)-run centers for victims of crime, including trafficking victims, with the capacity to provide assistance to trafficking victims, including shelter, basic needs, psycho-social support, health care, and family reunification assistance; the government did not report whether any trafficking victims received services. MINAS had the authority to admit children subjected to abuse – including trafficking victims – to government institutions for vulnerable children, which offered shelter, food, medical as well as psychological care, education, vocational training, and family tracing. The government continued to provide some support, including building costs, to NGOs that provided care to trafficking victims. The government also provided subsidies to MINAS-partnered organizations that provided temporary shelter to trafficking survivors, including women and children. Despite these available services, the government continued to lack sufficient resources to adequately protect trafficking victims. The government, in partnership with an international organization, repatriated 63 Cameroonians in Tunisia; the government did not report if these individuals included potential trafficking victims. The government coordinated with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons in Nigeria to repatriate two Nigerian child trafficking victims in Cameroon.
Due to the limited use of victim identification procedures, authorities may have inadvertently arrested some unidentified trafficking victims. The government, in partnership with an international organization, drafted a handover protocol to refer child soldiers to protection actors; the draft handover protocol remained pending with the Prime Minister at the end of the reporting period. The government did not have a formal policy to provide victim-witness assistance to victims participating in investigations and prosecutions and did not provide victim-witness assistance to any victims cooperating in investigations or prosecutions, despite reports indicating traffickers often threatened victims during trials. Victims could obtain restitution from convicted traffickers through criminal proceedings or seek damages through civil suits; however, the government did not report whether courts awarded any restitution. The government could grant temporary residency status to foreign victims who, if deported, may face hardship or retribution; however, it did not report providing this accommodation.
from 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report – U.S. Department of State
2024 Trafficking in Persons Report – United States Department of State
