Cameroon is denying a report by the U.N. refugee agency that it has forcibly repatriated close to 400 Nigerian refugees and asylum-seekers since January, but it says people running to areas prone to regular attacks by Boko Haram had to be moved to safer localities.

Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of Cameroon’s far northern region that shares border with Nigeria’s Borno State, a former stronghold of Boko Haram, said Saturday that there had been no forced repatriations of refugees from Cameroon’s territory. He said Cameroon had complied with agreements made with Nigeria and the refugee agency regarding voluntary repatriation of Nigerian refugees, and that his government would assure the refugees’ safety until they left Cameroon.

He added, however, that people who had settled outside their camp at Minawao — especially in the Logone and Chari administrative unit that is prone to Boko Haram atrocities — had to be moved to safer localities where they could also receive humanitarian assistance from the U.N., the government of Cameroon, and well-wishers.

U.N. report

On Friday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported that despite warnings, Nigerian refugees and asylum-seekers who had fled Boko Haram violence were continuing to be returned from Cameroon, and it underscored the need to provide international protection to those in need.

In the report, the UNHCR said that since the beginning of 2018, 385 Nigerian refugees and asylum-seekers had been forcibly returned from Cameroon — the majority of them last month, including 160 on April 10 and another 118 a week later.

The UNHCR said it recognized legitimate national security concerns of states affected by the Boko Haram crisis, and stressed that it is important that refugee protection and national security are not seen as being incompatible.

There are about 110,000 Nigerian refugees in northern Cameroon. Ninety thousand are at the Minawao refugee camp. The UNHCR says 5, 000 have arrived since January, when the multinational joint task force of the Lake Chad Basin — composed of troops from Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger — launched attacks on the Sambisa Forest, stronghold of the insurgents.

Mamadi Fatta Kourouma, coordinator of the UNHCR in northern Cameroon, said about 60,000 refugees want to return, and the Cameroon-Nigeria-UNHCR commission is assuring that any repatriation takes place in safety and dignity.

Surrounding villages

He said close to 30,000 refugees have been living in villages surrounding the Minawao camp for up to three years, and that UNCHR wants to help them return as well.

The Lake Chad Basin task force announced last year that it had rolled back Boko Haram’s gains and said the terrorist group was living its last moments, but warned the insurgency had switched to terror attacks and remained a threat.

The conflict that began in northeast Nigeria eight years ago has left at least 25,000 people dead and forced more than 2.6 million others to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger are calling on the displaced population and refugees to voluntarily return to towns and villages, but to be vigilant as the terror group is gradually being eliminated.

Source: VOA

Catholic Bishops in Cameroon are calling on President Paul Biya to begin a dialogue to find a sustainable solution to the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon.

Since 2016, English speakers in the Central African country have been protesting against what they say is gross marginalization by the Francophone-dominated administration. They have also been complaining about the use of French in Common Law courts and Anglophone schools.

The two English-speaking regions – in the northwest and southwest of the country – constitute 20 percent of Cameroon’s over 24 million people. The Catholic Church is the largest religious group in the country, representing about 40 percent of all Cameroonians.

At the 43rd plenary meeting of the national episcopal conference, the bishops said the president in his capacity as “father of the nation” holds the keys to the speedy resolution of the crisis, and it is through “an inclusive dialogue” that the solution will come.

“If the head of state decides today that there will be a meeting with all those spear-heading the Anglophone crisis, there will be dialogue,” said Bishop Michael Bibi, the auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Bamenda, which is located in the English-speaking part of the country.

“Those who are in prison can be granted clemency and freed. Those who are out of the country and who are engineering these problems can be called back home. Those who are back home but who are not in jail but are sympathetic to the Anglophone crisis should be invited to the discussion table…religious leaders, administrative authorities, the civil society, opinion leaders, Anglophone secessionist leaders…In fact the various stakeholders should be brought to the discussion table…let this dialogue take place so that together, we can find solutions to the crisis,” Bibi told Crux.

Noting that the search for peace had become a national emergency, Archbishop Jean Mbarga of Yaoundé told Crux the bishops had decided to organize “Novenas for Peace” in the days leading up to the celebration of Cameroon’s National Day, May 20.

But the deputy Secretary General of the National Episcopal Conference, Msgr. Jervis Kebei said that peace will only come if it is accompanied by justice.

“We all want peace, but there can be no peace without justice, there can be no peace without reconciliation,” Kebbei told Crux.

He said the government had taken a number of measures to resolve the crisis.

These include the creation of a National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multi-culturalism; the creation of a Common Law Bench at the Supreme Court; the deployment of English-speaking lawyers and teachers to Anglophone schools and courts; and the appointment – for the first time since independence – of Anglophones to head the Ministries of Territorial Administration and Secondary Education.

But these measures are seen by many in the Anglophone regions as “too little, too late.”

“If all the measures taken by the government are not helping out the situation, if they are instead making young people to be more radicalized, it means that there is something more fundamental that the government has to do,” Kebei said.

The monsignor said only an inclusive dialogue can help Cameroon go “to the root cause of the problem,” noting that understanding the problem could provide important indications on how a solution can be found.

No talks with separatists, says government

Despite the plea of the bishops for an all-inclusive dialogue, the government has made it clear that there will be no discussion whatsoever with separatists.

Paul Atanga Nji, the first-ever Anglophone to head the Ministry of Territorial Administration, said on state media that “everything we do must be done within constitutional order.”

“Those who wish to operate outside that order can expect nothing else than to be dealt with firmly. We shall not entertain any language, we shall not entertain any action that either threatens territorial integrity of our nation or threatens life,” he said.

He said however that government was ready for dialogue “with those who seek the oneness of Cameroon.”

But the stance has been criticized by the bishops, since it would exclude those advocating independence for “Ambazonia,” what they call the Anglophone regions.

A surge in violence

Meanwhile, the crisis has continued to escalate. Local media continue to file daily reports of fighting between security forces and “Ambazonian” fighters.

The bi-weekly newspaper The Voice reported that on April 11 a police commissioner was killed in the locality of Kom in Cameroon’s Northwest Region, allegedly by separatist forces. In response, the military killed 18 civilians.

Kebei told Crux that the bishops “strongly deplore the insecurity that is going on, perpetrated by people who are angry and – most often – by the military that goes reckless and on the rampage.”

“The military men are still being killed. In retaliation, the military kill the civilians and destroy property, and I think that it has reached a stage that the Head of State… (should) bring all together for an inclusive dialogue… and if a solution can not be reached then it means there is something fundamental that still needs to be done,” Kebei told Crux.

The monsignor said such dialogue must be accompanied by faith in God. He said the power of the Gospel can be employed to resolve the problem. “Christ’s message is the Word, and if this is applied to the existing situation, it will touch on people’s consciences.”

Source: Crux

Two Cameroonian soldiers died and four were seriously injured on Friday after a mine exploded in an anglophone region hit by violence between separatists and the government. “A Cameroonian army vehicle went over a mine” in Eyumojock, a town in an English-speaking part of the southwest, a security source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The source said the blast close to the Nigerian border caused “two deaths and four serious injuries”. Eyumojock lies between Mamfe, the main town of the Manyu, and Ekok “in an epicentre of violence in the southwestern Anglophone region,” the source added.

Since late 2017, anglophone separatists have killed 30 members of the security forces, according to an AFP count based on official statements and including the two deaths on Friday. Other observers in Yaounde believe the toll is higher. Northwest and southwest Cameroon are home to the English-speaking inhabitants of Cameroon, who make up 20% of the population.

Separatist ambitions have long simmered in the two minority anglophone regions in the west of the country, where people complain of being marginalised by the French-speaking elite. The deep socio-political crisis has gradually turned into a low-intensity armed conflict in recent months.

The separatists, who are fighting for independence, have asked Yaounde and military personnel to leave their territory, calling them “occupation forces”. For three months, armed separatist groups have ramped up violence against the police, kidnapped civil servants and clashed with the army.

As the crisis grows, new separatist groups have appeared, posing on social networks with weapons and a flag of “Ambazonia”, the name of the state they want to create. Cameroonians swept up in the conflict are facing a humanitarian crisis, according to aid groups, as they struggle to reach people in remote areas that have become virtually off-limits.

Source: AFP

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is today expressing its alarm at continuing forced returns to Nigeria of refugees and asylum-seekers from Cameroon’s Far North Region.

Despite UNHCR’s advocacy efforts and engagement with the authorities, 385 Nigerians have been forcibly returned from Cameroon since the beginning of 2018. The majority of them were returned during the last month.

More specifically, on 10 April, 160 Nigerian refugees and asylum-seekers were forcibly returned to Nigeria’s Borno state – an area whose residents continue to face risks. They had been seeking refuge in Cameroon’s Waza district since 2014.

On 17 April, an additional 118 asylum-seekers were forcibly returned to Borno state. They had arrived in Cameroon only two days earlier, having fled violence by Boko Haram.

The forced returns are in violation of the principle of no forced returns or non-refoulement. They are also a significant setback to progress previously achieved by Cameroon in granting asylum to Nigerian civilians fleeing Boko Haram violence in Borno State.

UNHCR appeals once again to the authorities in Cameroon to refrain from further forced returns and to ensure protection to those fleeing insecurity and persecution in Nigeria, in accordance with Cameroon’s national and international obligations. In total, UNHCR has registered some 87,600 Nigerian refugees in the country.

While recognizing the legitimate national security concerns of States affected by the Boko Haram crisis, it is important that refugee protection and national security are not seen as being incompatible. Properly functioning screening, registration and asylum systems help safeguard host country security.

UNHCR reiterates its support to the government of Cameroon to ensure that all those seeking international protection have access to efficient screening and registration procedures, as well as appropriate reception arrangements.

Source: UNHCR.org

The Communication Secretary of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Hon. Chris Anu, today used his first appearance before Southern Cameroonians in the UK to condemn every act of terror against Ambazonian civilians by French Cameroun army soldiers.

Addressing 100s of Southern Cameroonians gathered in London for a protest march during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Chris Anu said the world expected from the Commonwealth a clear stance and firm answers regarding the atrocities of the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime as well as with regard to respect for human rights.

Addressing the Southern Cameroons public, Mr Anu called for generous donations to the struggle saying if Ambazonians get tired of giving; French Cameroun troops will eventually exterminate everyone in the territory.

Chris Anu said French Cameroun orchestrated presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections will not hold in Southern Cameroons. Earlier before the protest march, Chris Anu told the BBC that there will be no negotiations until the Interim Head of State, Sisisku Ayuk Tabe and all those arrested due to the Southern Cameroons uprising gain their freedom.

“We are still suffering from the unjust curfew, siege and killings against our people,” said Chris Anu. He also addressed the members of the Southern Cameroons UK governing body who were present in London.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands the US and the European Union have been seeking to delay presidential elections in Cameroon due to the crisis in Southern Cameroons, in the hope of winning Ambazonian agreement to accept President Biya’s Greek Gift of a Minister of Territorial Administration and Secondary Education.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai with files from Sesekou Ashu Isong in London

Syria has handed over to Russia two unexploded cruise missiles it discovered in the aftermath of the recent attack by the United States, Britain and France, Syrian sources say.

“Two cruise missiles that did not detonate during the US missile strike on Syria overnight on April 14 were found by the Syrian military. Both are in rather good condition. These missiles were handed over to Russian officer the day before yesterday (April 17),” a source in the Syrian Defense Ministry told Russia’s TASS news agency on Thursday.

The Syrian military sent the missiles over on board a plane on Wednesday, the source added. The Russian Defense Ministry had yet to confirm the report.

On April 14, US President Donald Trump along with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Theresa May authorized a joint missile attack against alleged chemical weapons manufacturing sites inside Syria.

The attack, carried out in response to what the US and its allies insisted was a chemical attack by the Syrian government, saw 105 cruise missiles being fired at targets in Damascus and Homs.

It was not clear whether the discovered missiles were American Tomahawks or Scalp/Storm Shadow, codenames for a cruise missile jointly developed by France and the UK.

However, there is a good chance that the missiles were fired by the US military as the UK and France only fired 20 missiles collectively.

Days before the attack, Trump had warned Russia, a key supporter of Damascus in the war against foreign-backed militants, that it should get ready to shoot down “nice and new and smart” US missiles over Syria.

Despite claims by the US military that all missiles hit their targets, the Russian defense ministry said after the attack that 71 missiles were intercepted by Syria’s air defense, which relies on Russian equipment.

This is while none of the missiles landed in Tartus and Hmeymim, where Russian missile defense systems, namely the advanced S-400 system, were deployed to protect Russian bases. Russia did not use its own systems to intercept the missiles.

Trump pressed ahead with his plans to attack despite a decision by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to send a fact-finding mission to the alleged chemical attack in Syria’s Douma upon requests from Moscow and Damascus.

The Russian center for the reconciliation of conflicting parties examined Douma on April 9, two days before the purported gas attack, to find no traces of chemical weapons.

Source: Presstv

Forces loyal to the Biya regime in Yaoundé and the Rapid Intervention Battalion including a special security outfit fighting the Ambazonian self-defense groups have reportedly killed several civilians in the Manyu County. Our correspondent in the Upper Bayang Sub constituency in Manyu on Thursday confirmed that many civilians lost their lives when they were fired at by Cameroon government forces in Kendem village.

We gathered that during the Kendem attack, the soldiers were able to call for reinforcement from Bamenda which led to the exchange of gunfire between the military and the militants.  The regime in Yaoundé has developed a diabolic harsh ploy claiming that there exists an exaggerated speculation on military operations in Manyu involving government troops and suspected Southern Cameroons militants.

A highly placed military official in Mamfe who spoke to our undercover reporter hinted that many soldiers are paying the supreme price for a senseless war declared by the 85 year old President Biya. A rescue team supported by a detachment from the Bamenda mechanized division was dispatched to Eyumojock yesterday to locate and support government troops battling Ambazonian militants.

The onetime beautiful village of Kendem has been deserted. Government forces have mounted a gendarmerie check point near Chief Ako Stanley’s palace. Cameroon Concord News has also gotten information that the Eyumojock attack casualties were heavy.

This item is still developing

By Judith Fon

Cameroon Concord News Group

Hundreds of Southern Cameroons protesters from all over Europe and the UK are heading to London for a massive demonstration on Friday against a possible President Biya presence in the Commonwealth heads of government meeting and to show solidarity with the Ambazonian freedom fighters back home. In a global outpouring of anti-Biya sentiment, London and the East Midlands including Belgium and France are expected to record the biggest turnout.

In UK, at least a thousand people will join London city’s biggest Southern Cameroons demonstration ever, Metropolitan Police have said. Organizers are anticipating a sellout crowd with banners exposing the genocide currently going on in Southern Cameroons.

Anti-French Cameroun demonstrators are also expected to pack the streets north of the United Nations headquarters in New York as the situation in Southern Cameroons continues to deteriorate.  Echoing the words of Martin Luther King III, the Communications Secretary of the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Chris Anu told Cameroon Concord News that “Just because you have the biggest guns does not mean you must use it on innocent Southern Cameroonians.”

Hon. Chris Anu also noted that the time has come for the world to listen to Southern Cameroonians – and Southern Cameroonians are saying, `We want to stay as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.’ Ambazonians have strongly endorsed the policy of their Interim Government and the widely acclaimed statements of Hon Chris Anu, that the preservation of the sanctity of human life must be a sacred commitment of all. In the light of this demonstrable policy which accords with the principles of international law and practices of civilized nations, Cameroon Concord News deems it necessary to once more highlight the history of international criminality on which French Cameroun was founded.

This distinguishing criminal policy clearly defines French Cameroun’s identity and markedly distinguishes it from the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The perpetual distinction between the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and French Cameroun lies in the premium placed by Ambazonia on the protection of civilians not participating in French Cameroun’s genocide war against Ambazonia and French Cameroun’s policy of cowardly criminal annihilation of armless civilians.  For example, while Ambazonia liberation forces arrested, interrogated and released, Professor Leke Tambo, Justice Martin Mbeng and other civilians, French Cameroun and its criminal collaborators like George Tabetando, kidnapped and executed in cold blood seven Ambazonia civilians in Kendem, Manyu County.

In another cowardly act, a very desperate French Cameroun regime faked the abduction of foreign citizens who were controlled, protected and given safe passage by well-disciplined Ambazonia forces hoping to use the blackmail to obtain an adverse European Union resolution against the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and its revolutionary war of liberation. This criminal government network of kidnappers for ransom in French Cameroun and the immediate ethnic inner cycle of the Buhari government in Nigeria masked in the fight against Boko Haram superintended by this network are well documented. The Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has expressly outlawed the abduction of foreign nationals and has consistently condemned the abduction of its President and members of its Interim Government by the criminal network in Nigeria and French Cameroun.  The plethora defining and distinctive irreconcilables between French Cameroun and the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, make life together in any form impossible.

One of the virtues of having a functional Interim Government is to enable the Federal Republic of Ambazonia to have a structured government to define, determine and direct our collective and individual actions in a manner that would clearly distinguish us from the brutal criminal enemy from which we have moved away. French Cameroun was built on the blood of its nationalists and citizens who sought true independence from the criminal French colonial empire of despair and death.  For fifty-six years, the economy of the Southern Cameroons has been raped, looted, pillaged and devastated to sustain the economy of the French colonial vampire.

By Chi Prudence Asong and Soter Agbaw-Ebai in London

Former US first lady Barbara Bush, the only woman to see her husband and son both sworn in as president, has died at the age of 92.

“A former First Lady of the United States of America and relentless proponent of family literacy, Barbara Pierce Bush passed away Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at the age of 92,” the Bush family said in a statement.

She was the wife of the 41st US president, George H.W. Bush, and mother of the 43rd, George W. Bush.

The former first lady was also the mother of Jeb Bush, who served as governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007 and unsuccessfully ran for the White House in 2016.

The Bush family had announced earlier in the week that the former US first lady was in failing health and had decided not to seek further medical treatment, focusing instead on “comfort care.”

She had been battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart problems in recent years, according to some media reports.

The US first lady, from 1989 to 1993, was a fierce advocate of civil rights and went against many of her husband’s Republican Party supporters with her liberal views.

In a statement from the White House, US President Donald Trump said, “She will be long remembered for her strong devotion to country and family, both of which she served unfailingly well.”

Source: Presstv