Social scientists studying forced migration are confronted with raw human experiences under extreme conditions, but also bear witness to the strength reflected in how people endure and reorganize. Cities in developing countries are the destination of the majority of the world’s refugees. In light of recent policies for urban refugees and alternatives to camps and an increased focus on resilience-building programmes by humanitarian agencies, global donors and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, this article explores the congruity, or lack thereof, between these draft agendas, emic (insider) and etic (outsider) concepts of wellbeing and resilience, and the priorities and realities of urban refugees in Cameroon. We also discuss challenges and ways forward in developing a resilience framework that is sufficiently flexible given the multitude of stakeholders concerned by urban refugee issues, from host government city and regional planning authorities, to humanitarian agencies, and the diversity of communities themselves. © The Author(s) 2018.

Cameroon Resilience Urban refugees wellbeing Central Africa

urban population stakeholder Cameroon ethnography governance approach refugee Central Africa Centre [Cameroon] Yaounde forced migration Regional planning