Cameroon:Running for safety amidst Anglophone Crisis

By   Peter Ndange 

The Anglophone crisis, which has registered thousands of deaths as a result of confrontations between Government forces and armed separatists fighting for the independence of English-speaking Cameroonians (Anglophones), has kept citizens living in uncertainty and fear.

Both Government forces and separatist fighters have been accused by rights groups of burning down public and private property, worth hundreds of millions of Fcfa, leaving victims desperate and homeless.

According to an investigative report by the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa(CHRDA) published in August 2018, “one hundred and seventy six villages(176) both in the North West and the South West Regions of Cameroon have been raided and partially or severely burned down by state defense forces in an attempt to crackdown on armed separatists .’’   .

Maria Atongajua in search of safety

 A recent case of arson is that of Maria Atongajua, whose family residence was reportedly burnt in Lebialem Division of Southwest Region forcing family members to run into hiding for safety.

Lebialem is a stronghold of separatist’s fighters with the dreaded warrior called General Ivo. What is very pathetic about the nearly 32 year-old Atongajua’s case is that she is an orphan.The burnt residence is said to have been the only property her parents left for her. Many other arson victims in separatist strongholds such as Muyuka have frightening experiences to share on how they became homeless.

CHRDA, in the aforementioned  report, warned: “This act of burning villages is in breach of classical common article 3 to the Four Geneva Convention 1949 and the Additional Protocol II to the same Convention dealing with the non-international conflicts

“Also, the burning of villages and destruction of civilian property is in breach of national and international human rights norms and the host of other laws. 

“These crimes and acts are to be thoroughly investigated and perpetrators brought before the competent authorities”

The mass media and social media are awash with images of burnt property and sometimes those of charred bodies of people burnt alive in their houses in villages.

Part of Kumba Hospital burnt down

 Only last February 11, the Kumba District Hospital  was burnt down.
Reports claim the Cameroon military burn down houses and villages which they suspect serve as hideouts for secessionist fighters but the military has refuted the allegations, shifting the blame to separatists.  Separatists too are alleged to be burning down public structures such as schools and vehicles.

Many victims of burnt houses are now living in bushes while others fled to foreign countries for asylum, to avoid further persecution.

According to the UN , about a million people are internally displaced due to the ongoing Anglophone Crisis, while over thirty thousand people are seeking asylum in neighboring Nigeria.

The crisis has given rise to a serious humanitarian crisis in Cameroon needing huge global support, according to the UNO and rights groups.

As the crisis worsens, Anglophones in the Diaspora have staged many protest marches at Cameroon embassies against the Biya regime and have called on the government to engage in genuine and inclusive dialogue but the Government appears reluctant and has instead called on the separatists to lay down their arms or be crushed.

The Cameroon has accused separatist fighters in the Diaspora of sponsoring the independence of Anglophones, insisting that Cameroon remains “one and indivisible”

Many Anglophone rights activists in the Diaspora such as Mark Barata,Cho Ayaba,Tapang Ivo,Akwanga Ebenezar,Chris Anu, Akoson Pauline, John Mbah Akuroh and Akoson Raymond are wanted by the state of Cameroon.

The Anglophone Crisis erupted in 2016 when common law lawyers and Anglophone teachers’ trade unions staged protests pressing for solutions to their professional grievances but the Cameroon government resorted to repression.