Anglophone Crisis: Consortium warns Diaspora, Says Southern Cameroons is at tipping point ¹

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has warned the Anglophone Diaspora that Southern Cameroons is on the verge of a human rights catastrophe amid a Francophone government pattern of increased violence against Anglophones, rapes, executions, and detentions.

The Consortium gave the warning on Tuesday as ghost town operations were held throughout West Cameroon amid massive arrest of innocent citizens including some religious leaders. The interim leaders announced a major diplomatic break through but did not provide further details.   The first two months of 2017 alone has witnessed an alarming upsurge in rapes, killings and arbitrary and abusive use of force by troops loyal to the Biya Francophone regime.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium with legitimate authority in Southern Cameroons added that West Cameroonians should stay indoors and observe the civil disobedience campaign as the Yaoundé regime does not respect Anglophone rights, and has refused to halt its military operations in Southern Cameroons.  Inside sources say, the number of Anglophone citizens arrested and detained in Francophone prisons is far more than the number of Boko Haram militants captured ever since the Nigerian Islamic sect began its incursion into Cameroon territory.  La Republique du Cameroun will soon be dealing with a full blown human rights crisis.

Since 2016, the Francophone government and its political elites have been claiming that they have taken meaningful steps towards reform. The Biya Francophone government has failed to comment on its human rights obligations. The past few weeks have seen a very concerning renewed pattern of violations in Mamfe, Jakiri, Kembong, Batibo, Bamenda, Buea and Limbe including arbitrary detention and torture, facilitated by a continuing climate of impunity.

Anti- Biya regime protests have been held on an almost daily basis ever since the popular Anglophone uprising roared into life in 2016. The Francophone army has gone to great lengths to silence dissent and French speaking soldiers have been deployed to assist the 84 year-old leader in his crackdown. Hundreds of Anglophone Cameroonians have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or been arrested since then.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with cables from West and East Cameroons