Last September, amidst a bloody civil war between radical Anglophone secessionists and a brutal Francophone dictatorship, 89 courageous young people throughout Cameroon embarked on a journey to transform their country from a unitary authoritarian regime to a two-state democracy. The result was a historic seven-page document entitled “A Resolution for Peace by the Anglophone and Francophone Youth of Cameroon,” in which the children call upon President Paul Biya as well as leaders and citizens of the world to help them bring peace and equality to their beloved homeland.

The 15-week journey to justice, known as the Cameroon Peace Project, was developed and administered by the Global Justice Journal (GJJ), a US-based educational platform whose mission is to share the voices of youth who have been silenced by persecution and to assist them in creating positive social change. The project was facilitated locally by Kumba-based NGO, Survivors’ Network, whose staff recruited students and teachers for the program and forwarded the participants’ weekly assignments to GJJ. This may seem like a relatively easy task, but GJJ founder Cece Buckley insists otherwise.

“The decision to engage in this project was an extraordinary act of courage by our local partners, teachers and students,” says Buckley. “President Biya, whose regime has ruled Cameroon since 1982, has declared any discussion of federalism a crime punishable by imprisonment. So to develop a resolution calling for Cameroon’s return to a federal government is the ultimate form of passive resistance.”

According to Buckley, the vast majority of students had no idea that, upon achieving independence from France and Great Britain in 1960 and 1961, respectively, Cameroon was meant to be a federal republic consisting of two equal states — one Francophone and one Anglophone. In fact, it is virtually impossible to find a copy of the original 1961 constitution anywhere in Cameroon. Once participants learned the true history of their country, however, their path to peace became clear. As fanatical separatists continued to demand a violent division of the country and the reigning dictatorship continued to oppress 20 percent of the population for no reason other than their Anglo-Saxon heritage, the young Anglophone and Francophone peacebuilders reached across the cultural divide and set their sights on a groundbreaking collaboration.

In addition to discovering the history of their own country, students learned about the sometimes tumultuous history of Anglophone-Francophone relations in Canada. Through the use of texts, music and poetry, they also drew inspiration from peace leaders who preceded them, including Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Leymah Gbowee, who was instrumental in bringing an end to Liberia’s civil war. Little by little, these shining examples of heroism instilled in participants the hope and confidence they needed to successfully graduate from the program on January 30, 2021 as the changemakers they were always meant to be.

Now their fate rests in your hands.

Source: Global Justice Journal

On Thursday morning, February 4, armed men shot at a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) ambulance that was responding to a call in Muyuka, in the South-West region of Cameroon. An MSF nurse was injured in the attack and is now receiving medical care. The vehicle was clearly identified as an MSF ambulance. MSF condemns this attack and reiterates that ambulances, health care facilities, health staff, and civilians are not targets.

A second ambulance was later dispatched to respond to the initial call for emergency medical aid in Muyuka. That patient is now in critical condition.

MSF medical teams have been responding to the severe and ongoing effects of the crisis in North-West and South-West Cameroon since 2018. Our teams provide neutral and impartial medical humanitarian assistance through our emergency ambulance referrals, secondary level care, and a decentralized model of community-based health care.

Reaching people displaced by violence

For four years, Cameroon’s North-West and South-West regions have been convulsed by armed violence between government forces and non-state armed groups, which has displaced more than 700,000 people. The humanitarian needs are enormous and displaced communities face difficulties accessing basic services, including health care.

The crisis has severely affected the public health system and many health centers have closed or are unable to function. Both medical workers and facilities are directly targeted by violence, and insecurity is disrupting the supply of drugs and medical equipment.

Traveling from remote villages to health facilities is a major challenge for many people, due to insecurity, bad road conditions, and lack of transport. MSF offers a free, 24-hour ambulance service that operates seven days a week, collects eligible patients at designated pick-up points and takes them to MSF-supported health centers and hospitals. If MSF cannot reach an area, we provide money for public transport so that patients can reach health structures or make their way to pick-up-points.

Source: MSF

Human Rights Watch has again accused the Cameroonian army of executing civilians during an attack on a separatist base at Mautu in Southern Cameroons.

The attack by the Cameroonian army against the Ambazonia Restoration base occurred on 10 January 2021.

According to Human Rights Watch, 9 civilians were killed in the attack, including a woman and a child and four others were injured.

“Witnesses said the soldiers killed 9 people including a 50-year-old woman and a 6-year-old child. And, that they went from one house to another in search of separatist fighters and weapons, threatening residents and looting their property,” Human Rights Watch said.

On 11 January 2021, Colonel Cyrille Serge Atonfack, a French Cameroonian army spokesman, said that “terrorists” had fabricated a “jumble of images” to accuse the Cameroonian army of murdering civilians.

According to Colonel Cyrille Serge Atonfack, the terrorists attacked the soldiers of the 21st Mechanized Infantry Battalion (BIM) while they were conducting a “preventive raid”. The latter retaliated by killing several “terrorists” and seizing their weapons.

This is not the first time that the army is taken to task by the respectable Human Rights Watch.

The NGO whose main task is the defense of human rights regularly accuses the Cameroonian army of abuses against Southern Cameroons civilians.

By Isong Asu

The conflict in Southern Cameroons is still raging and the killing is still going on.

In Mamfe, two soldiers were shot dead by Southern Cameroonian insurgents in Egbekaw, a neighborhood of Mamfe, and these killings have triggered a wave of arson by frustrated Cameroon army soldiers who are unable to find those who have sent their colleagues to an earlier grave.

Mamfe remains a hotspot, especially the Southern Cameroonian president, Julius Ayuk Tabe, a native of Mamfe, is still in the dungeons of East Cameroons.

Similarly, there was also a violent exchange of fire between army soldiers and Southern Cameroonian insurgents in Ediki, a small town some 20 miles from the city of Kumba.

The stand-off lasted some two hours with travelers being unable to travel freely.

More will be yours as our correspondents are gathering more information.

For over fifteen months, French Cameroun authorities have attempted every trick in the book to deceive the world that Southern Cameroons restoration forces are laying down their arms. The corrupt dictatorship illegally occupying Ambazonia, has built three makeshift prisons housing common criminals and paid actors, and termed the facilities, Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration Centre.

The Monday, 1 February 2021 demonstration by alleged ex-Ambazonia separatist fighters in the Buea facility was a major embarrassment for the regime in Yaoundé. The protesters were heard screaming that they were “protesting against their poor living conditions and the unfulfilled promises of the La Republique du Cameroun Government ever since they dropped their arms.”

A Cameroon Concord News Group source on the scene said locals identified about eight of the protestors as burglars that are serving time in the Buea Central Prison. A local resident who elected anonymity furthered “I recognised four burglars who are supposed to be serving time for aggravated burglary since 2013. They have nothing to do with the Ambazonia struggle. They must have been paid by this corrupt government to stage that they live in the DDR centre. It is disgusting and disgraceful.”

As the protest continued, one of the alleged ex-separatist fighters said “the reason for the protest was because we have been suffering for more than a year since we laid down our arms. We have been living in unfavourable housing conditions, poor treatment, no jobs causing some of our wives and partners to leave us.” Another protestor shouted “all of the promises made to us by the government for jobs and employment are unfulfilled and because of this, we have decided to carry on a protest so the government can see in to their problems.”

In a country not known to show civility to protesters, the local population around Bokwango and Long Street in Buea were left suspicious and concerned at the peaceful manner that the government applied to stop the so-called protest. A local resident said “this was a staged protest especially after some on the true identities of the protestors were revealed and we are very worried that they are our new neighbours.”

By Asu Vera Eyera in London with files from Buea

60 Cameroonians will be repatriated from the United States tomorrow Thursday 4 February 2021, a statement from the Ministry of External Relations (Minrex) has revealed. These Cameroonians are presumed to be in an irregular situation in the country.

According to another release from the Cameroon Embassy in the United States, these Cameroonians will arrive in Douala at 13:45 local time on board the Boeing 767-200 of the OMNI AIR International Company, on Thursday, February 4, 2021.

Their reception in Douala will be supervised by several administrative heads including Minrex officials, the embassy press release noted.

In view of the socio-political, security and health context that Cameroon is going through, special arrangements will be made for the said operation, hinted a confidential letter addressed to the Director of Douala International Airport by the Minister of External Relations.

The repatriation operations that started under the Trump administration are continuing under the Biden era.

On 14 October 2020, 57 Cameroonians landed at Douala International Airport from the United States.

These Cameroonians, 45 men and 12 women had been forced to return to Cameroon following a repatriation operation conducted jointly by the two countries.

By Rita Akana

Southern Cameroons Vice President Dabney Yerima says the Ambazonia Interim Government supports any Vatican initiative which represents people from all Southern Cameroons restoration groups in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

During a telephone conversation with a senior Amba commander in the Mezam County on Monday morning, Yerima praised Roman Catholic Christians for granting the visiting Cardinal Secretary of State, His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin a befitting welcome in Southern Cameroons.

“Through the Christian faith, the Southern Cameroons Interim Government supports an inclusive peace mission with the government of La Republique du Cameroun and considers it a necessity for the United Nations to take a leading role in Southern Cameroons” Yerima said.

“Southern Cameroonians are your people and should not be targeted in any Ambazonia Self Defense operations,” the Vice President added.

The Ambzonian Vice President then pointed to the action by the Holy See, stating that the Vatican remains a provider of good mediators and peace brokers.

For his part, the Ambazonia Ground Zero commander briefed Yerima on the continued militarization of Southern Cameroons towns and cities by the French Cameroun government in Yaoundé and pointed to the broken promises of the Interim Government towards Restoration Fighters.

By Fon Lawrence in Bamenda