It says about 850,000 children are unable to attend school due to the ongoing conflict. Evening roundup with our editors favorite stories of the day. United Nations Even if you tie a bag of cement to me, and throw me into the water, I will still come out. The conflict in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon is a civil war that started in 2017 between Cameroonian security forces and non-state armed separatist groups vying for an independent state they call "The Federal Republic of Ambazonia."Longstanding grievances in the Anglophone regions of . Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports some 4,000 people have died in clashes, with around 60,000 forced to flee to neighboring Nigeria. The ruling RDPC party wins the vast majority of votes. However, at this point, the manpower of Ambazonian separatists is still being undercut by their lack of access to weapons. A woman stands beside the grave of a distant relative in the deserted village of Eshobi on Feb. 11. Independence Movement Southern Cameroons became part of Cameroon on 1 October 1961. font-size: 1.9rem; The conflict has since killed more than 3,000 people, forced over 900,000 people from their homes, and kept around 800,000 children out of school. What began as a protest movement in 2016 calling for federalism, degenerated into fighting and a demand for full independence after the government clamped down on protest leaders. But the process is fraught with uncertainties. Cameroonian security forces fired live ammunition from low-flying helicopters into crowds, and videos circulated of them beating demonstrators on the ground. In 2019, groups aligned with IG Sako coalesced under a new umbrella, the Ambazonia Coalition Team (ACT). By signing up, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to occasionally receive special offers from Foreign Policy. margin:3rem 0 3rem 0; Last year, Chris Anu, the Texas-based communications secretary of IG Sako who fronts a Facebook news broadcast warned that an indefinite lockdownwould be implemented unless all political leaders are released. Soldiers say they are prepared to die for Ambazonia. Insurrection in Cameroon during the mid-1950s and early 1960s grew out of an anti-colonial campaign for independence. The Cameroonian military has razed dozens of villages since the end of 2017, and it has forced many of the people who called these places home to flee deep into the bush. World. With most votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu and ultranationalists look like big winners. font-size:1.5rem; Elias Tambe, a leader of the separatists, says they no longer recognize Cameroon president Paul Biya as their leader. The BIR has been a constant partner of the United States as it has looked for ways to check the evolution of the terrorist group, even if a full reckoning with the scope of the Leahy Law, which is designed to prevent the U.S. government from funding military units committing atrocities, complicates this arrangement. In 1972, the country became the United Republic of Cameroon, a structure that prioritized Francophones and shunted the Northwest and the Southwest to the side. Activists had called for the release of prisoners who had been arrested in a series of protests over the last year. Security. October 2017: Separatist leader Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe declares the Republic of Ambazonia an independent state on October 1, a national holiday officially celebrated as Unification Day. He is the chairman of the African People's Liberation Movement, an Ambazonian separatist movement, and heads its armed wing, SOCADEF. The Biden administration is increasingly making clear it is intent on slowing down Chinas technological rise. The most influential separatists organizations are the Ambazonia Defense Forces, Ambazonia Self-Defense Council, African People's Liberation Movement and its armed wing, the Southern Cameroons Defense Forces. According to Mr. Viljoen, to win back the hearts and minds of the people they claim to represent, the pro-independence movements must join together and abstain from attacking and kidnapping. When he returned, the remains of his home were still smoldering, We threw water on it, he added, but it wasnt enough to make much of a difference. The region hasn't held an independence referendum yet. What started as a movement for greater rights has turned into a demand for independence. Sisiku, from his prison in Yaounde, strongly opposed the Swiss process and jokingly referred to it as the Swiss chocolate talks. Ayaba of the AGovC described the dialogue as a Trojan horse aimed at handing victory to the government. As the fighting intensifies, refugees are being pushed into Nigeria by the tens of thousands. A potential Asian war would look very different. For the commander of the AMF forces, who goes by the nom de guerre General Amadurah, which translates to General Thunder in English, There is no solution to our situation that involves La Rpublique. Were able to continue doing this thanks to the support of our donors and readers like you who believe in the power of independent journalism. Share. However, U.S. officials have made it clear that this is wishful thinking. On the same day, separatists celebrate the proclamation of the independent Republic of Ambazoniain 2017. Cash is a factor, with control over money raised from donations abroad including the so-called War Draft and kidnappings and extortion in Cameroon proving a lucrative revenue stream. The secessionist movement is riven by ethnic rivalries, lacking overall military and political leadership. This growing internationalization of the Anglophone separatist movement and routinely harsh reprisals from the government are combining to drive both radicalization and recruitment for groups like the AMF. In 1960, Cameroon became independent with part of British Cameroons voting to join former French Cameroon. U.S. Foreign Policy, Foncha served as Prime Minister of West Cameroun and Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Cameroun. Join FPs security and intelligence reporter, Amy Mackinnon, for a wide-ranging interview with Robin Niblett, a distinguished fellow at Chatham House, and Anand Menon, a professor of European politics at Kings College London. Their movement was soon outlawed, and in 1997, Akwanga . Tapang Ivo Tanku, spokesperson of the AGovCs armed wing, the ADF, said last year that anybody not paying a so-called liberation war tax would be kidnapped and held for ransom. Whats next for Britain under Sunaks leadership? A woman walks past a soldier of the Cameroon army's elite Rapid Intervention Battalion in the city of Buea in the Anglophone Southwest Region Oct. 4, 2018. While separatists are calling for complete independence, Biya has said he is not open to any negotiation on the matter and that Cameroon is one and indivisible. Cameroon's Anglophone-majority western provinces have begun calling for independence after the Francophone government began a series of crackdowns against English speakers over the past year. Apart from defusing the real Cameroonian independence movement's message, it allowed the French authorities to put an end to the international trusteeship system and shed UN oversight. About 700 pro-independence protesters mostly youths are attacking government buildings and police stations at the Cameroonian border town of Ekok, and hoisting what they call the flag of their independent state of Ambazonia. It was immediately attached to the former French Cameroon, while the British northern part was annexed to. Cameroon's army and police force crack down on renewed protests staged by English-speaking teachers and lawyers. At least seven people were killed in Cameroon's restive anglophone belt at the weekend as a separatist group made a symbolic declaration of independence. A guard dog hangs its head as the sun rises and mist settles on a small village in Southwest Cameroon on Feb. 10. While the groups in ACT are committed to the process, the IG Sisiku alliance refused to participate, questioning the integrity of the negotiations and the Cameroon government's commitment to peace. If you want to do it intentionally, you wont succeedI will survive., Gareth Browne is a British journalist based in Lyon, France. The separatists have maintained a long-running school boycott, arguing that the education system is biased against anglophone students. Tags: cameroon damian akara Independence kamerun society. However, while the farmers hauling sacks of it through the national park pass through with little fanfare, the fighters from groups such as the AMF are doing everything they can to grab the attention of audiences in Yaounde and beyond. It is a situation that has created huge incentives to either flee the region or join the fight. We have now become grasscutters, he said, referring to the oversized rat that can often be heard scurrying across the jungle floor in Southwest Cameroon. What impact will these changes have on the broader U.S.-China relationship? BUEA, CameroonFor the past five years, factions of a secessionist movement in . Now, three years in, Cameroonians in the Northwest and Southwest are caught between a government in Yaounde that has shown little regard for their grievances and armed groups that are vying to lead the countrys secessionist movement, which despite its fragmentation is becoming increasingly resourceful. The same day, the United States announced that although the U.S. military would continue to support the countrys fight against Islamist insurgents in the countrys Far North, the government would still terminate $17 million worth of military aid to Cameroon amid human rights concerns. Cameroon's central government has been working to supplant the region's British-style legal and education system with the French model. We can never stay as one together.. We waited there for 24 hours, he said. In an interview with Foreign Policy, he said he has attempted to source arms from two foreign powers in a deal that is being mediated by sympathetic officers in the Nigerian Army. He is accused of being an informant for the Cameroon government. November 2016: The central government first remains silent on the situation, then suppresses the Anglophone protest movement. Independence movements in Cameroon and Nigeria have been met by strong military crack downs in recent weeks reports the New York Times. } Cameroon has had only two presidents since independence and while opposition parties were legalized in 1990 only one party has ever governed. Cameroon bishops criticize violent campaign to quell independence movement. Cameroons government attempted to downplay the cuts, framing them as part of a broader strategy from the United States to reduce the U.S. military footprint in Africa, rather than a direct rebuke of how Yaounde has been using its firepower against its own civilians. February 2020: Kamto's MRC party boycotts the parliamentary and municipal elections. Leaders of the strike were arrested, but pressure groups have been calling for their immediate and unconditional release. The self-declared entityis still not recognized internationally. Police in riot gear patrolled the streets of Buea, This protester was photographed in Bamenda on 22 September, 'I had to destroy a truck-load of beer' Video, Musk tells Twitter staff remote working will end, Bitcoin hits two-year low as FTX rescue deal fails, US estimates 200,000 casualties in Ukraine war, Late Microsoft boss's art fetches record $1.5bn, The rise - and possible fall - of Lauren Boebert, Top China official jailed over Tiananmen dies at 90, Top Iranian actress poses without headscarf, Indonesia plane crash partly blamed on pilot error. International organizations become increasingly aware of the conflict. Calls for a ceasefire and an end to the war have been longstanding. font-family: "GT Sectra Medium"; As government forces. From Fonchas vantage point in the United States, a steady weapons supply will help bring an end to the fragmentation of Cameroons array of Anglophone separatist movements and help to galvanize support from military factions behind the council. Share. font-weight: 600; They have declared everybody a suspect of what is going on.. They were frustrated with the inflexible school curriculum that privileged Cameroons French-speaking majority and kept English speakers at a disadvantage, and they were tired of a legal system that made justice harder to get for English speakers because it was dominated by Francophones. rtrlten448926 CROP.jpg. No meetings have taken place sincelate 2019. Should 'radical' climate activism be penalized? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Subsequently, tension escalate, with English-speaking Cameroonians variously calling to reestablish a federal system, or split from Francophone Cameroon. In an amorphous conflict, estimates of exactly how many fighters are involved are equally slippery. A shout went up from one of the men: We are searching for a new nation.. Over the last three years, moderates who have promoted a federalist solution, and who have aimed to see Anglophone regions better resourced and able to set their own priorities within the context of Cameroon have routinely been imprisoned or forced into exile abroad. The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week. Rallies were held on the 56th anniversary of the incorporation of the regions into Cameroon. padding-right: 2rem; In the past year, as the conflict between separatists and the Cameroonian government has deepened, the roads that lead out of the countrys Anglophone regions have been routinely blocked by government troops. Escalating pro-independence movements by Anglophone Cameroonians and Biafrans are igniting ethnic tensions and could threaten regional stability. What the AMF has attempted to offer its ranks is a glimmer of a more cohesive, organized Ambazonian fighting force. The conflict had erupted in Cameroon's Northwest and Southwest regions earlier in 2017 when protests against new government-appointed judges in the regions turned violent. Five years ago, angry protests against Francophone dominance in Cameroon escalated and soon led to armed clashes between various Anglophone separatist groups and the central government. French-administered Cameroon gained independence in 1960. 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