In 2014, the town was severely impacted by the number of refugees fleeing the Central African Republic.

“Garoua-Boulai is overstrained by the different groups of refugees, and the situation is getting out of hand,” said the town’s mayor, Esther Yaffo Ndoe.

“The refugees outweigh the capacity of UNHCR, the Red Cross and MSF, and the only government hospital is overwhelmed with patients,” she told IRIN ... UNHCR and the Cameroon Red Cross (CRC) are registering refugees for transfer to a camp in Mborguéne, 50km from Garoua-Bulai, but the site is more or less devoid of basic services.

"[1] As of April 2014, a spokesperson for UNHCR stated: The main entry points at Garoua Boulai and Kentzou [are] no longer accessible due to anti-Balaka activities, people are using alternative routes.

“This has caused the number of entry points into Cameroon to grow from 12 to 27 over last three weeks, making it more challenging for our colleagues to monitor the border.”[2] Two trans-African automobile routes pass through Garoua-Boulai: