Lack of birth certificates puts Cameroon’s Indigenous people on the brink of statelessness

Associated Press

MAYOS, Cameroon (AP) — Indigenous people have lived in harmony with the forests of central Africa for hundreds of years. But the government of Cameroon is trying to integrate them into mainstream society as mining and logging activities rapidly encroach. That’s complicated because many Indigenous people don’t have birth certificates, meaning they remain excluded from the full benefits of citizenship including education, healthcare and unemployment. Now the government is moving to address the problem. It’s part of a commitment by African nations earlier this year to address the right to nationality and eradicate statelessness on the continent of more than 1.3 billion people.