The Baka and fellow Indigenous Bagyieli have lived in harmony with the forests of central Africa for generations. But mining and logging activities are encroaching, along with conservation areas, and government policy aims to integrate the ethnic groups into mainstream society.

Lives “were better when we were in the forest,” said Rebecca Gwampiel, a 78-year-old Baka. But their lack of birth certificates poses a significant barrier — part of a wider global problem. They never saw the need for birth certificates when they barely interacted with the world beyond the forest. Even now, they live far from administrative centers and can rarely afford the transport to reach them.

“Without a birth certificate, he is stuck with me here in the village,” said Francis’ 61-year-old father, Bertrand Akomi. He himself was denied employment by a lumber company because he didn’t have a birth certificate.

The document remains elusive for the more than 120,000 members of Cameroon’s Baka and Bagyieli communities. Without birth certificates, they cannot obtain national identity documents and are excluded from the full benefits of citizenship.

There is hope for change. Earlier this summer, Dingha and colleagues in the Cameroon parliament passed a bill allowing the country to accede to two United Nations conventions relating to the recognition of stateless people.

That would “help to significantly reduce discrimination against persons who often are only victims of circumstances,” the government said at the time.

Cameroon’s actions are 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.