Children have recently been caught up in a bonfire War 5 years ago A dispute between Cameroonian troops and armed English-speaking separatists that was inevitable to non-combatants.
At least 11 Cameroonian soldiers died on Saturday, November 13, and anglophon separatist militants used an improvised explosive device (IED) at Matazem in the country’s embarrassed northwestern Santa district. Ambushed.
The attack occurred the day after a Cameroonian police officer shot and killed a nine-year-old student in the same area, causing fierce protests from surrounding towns in an attempt to stop a driver who allegedly refused to obey.
Residents who were still furious by the tragedy of October 14 were furious to death when members of the Cameroon Army killed a five-year-old child in the southwestern capital of Buea. The case was also an attempt to stop the vehicle, which the driver reportedly refused to follow. The policeman was then beaten to death by an angry mob.
Cameroon Army spokesman, Atongfack Guemo Cyrille Serge In a post-incident press release, he admitted that the reaction of the deceased officer was “inappropriate … unsuitable for the situation and clearly unbalanced with the driver’s irrelevant behavior.”
“Civil disobedience (such as refusal to cooperate or disobedience / contempt of guards) can be subject to suspicion and ultimately a direct target of the power of law and order. Unfortunately, it is a sacrifice. Is a misguided target, “Suh I Fru Norbert, a lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Comparative Political Science at the University of Buerre in Cameroon, wrote in a textbook in the era. “Neither case may have been planned. [but] They were united in two regions that shared a common public security challenge. This is a mess of public life, “Norbert added.
Tensions between the Francophone-led government and the English-speaking withdrawal movement in Cameroon reached a turning point in 2016 after the government imposed French-speaking teachers and lawyers on English schools and courts.
Peaceful protests were hit by military crackdowns, armed groups were born, and activists demanded the separation of the English-speaking world from the rest of Cameroon. Rebels have dubbed their new country.Ambasonia.“
Colonial past
Conflict Derived from the past of Cameroon, This was a German colony that was later divided between France and Great Britain.
“Since 1961, Cameroon has two colonial heritage sites, English and French,” he said. Simon Mun’s, A leader in civil society and a former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
” Reunification Architect 1961 Acknowledging this reality, they Federal government system This allowed English-speaking and French-speaking territories to rule according to their colonial heritage, respectively, “Muns wrote in The Epoch Times.
“In 1972 Federation replaced by unitary state Manipulated and dominated by a French-speaking political elite. They embarked on programs of control, alienation, assimilation and conquest of English-speaking territories and populations that have resisted this trend for decades, primarily through peaceful protests. “
French-speaking section consists About 80 percent The English-speaking section, on the other hand, makes up about 20 percent, both in terms of territory and population.
Sticking state
Cameroon’s English-speaking conflict Sticking state Government and separatist fighters each believe that they can beat other fighters in combat. Without reports of conflict between Cameroonian troops and Ambassonia fighters, the week is almost never exhausted, usually with casualties on both sides.
Analysts warn that conflicting factions are killing innocent civilians. At least 11 students at the University of Buea were injured after an IED explosion on a campus allegedly masterminded by Ambassonia fighters. Another explosion in the same city happened a few days after killing the taxi driver.
“Repeated explosions can mean a surge in improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and perhaps even among those who use them, the technology can surge,” Norbert said.
“It is no exaggeration to say that in the context of generalized armed anxiety and conflict, soft target cannot be spared as long as it is regarded as a credible resource for further political claims,” Norbert said. Stated.
According to former UN official Munz, there is no military solution to the Anglo-Saxon crisis in Cameroon.
“The international community is not going to find a solution to this crisis,” says Munzu. “It is the responsibility of the Cameroonians.”
“But that’s [international community] We can support, facilitate and mediate the discovery and implementation of viable solutions, “Munzu said.
Some Cameroonian scholars have accused the United Nations of the current crisis of not giving the former British colonies in the northwestern and southwestern regions of present-day Cameroon. Self-rule options Between The era of decolonization..
“This is an unmanageable issue for us,” Wilson Tanf, a professor of public and international law at the University of Buea in Cameroon, said on a phone call with the Epoch Times.
“The former colonial rulers of Cameroon, Britain and France, also need to participate. When President Paul Biya sued the International Court of Justice. Bakassi problemHe should also appeal to the United Nations over the English-speaking conflict, rather than saying that Cameroon can resolve it. “
In 2004, the United Nations mediated a border dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria over the Bakassi Peninsula.
Common point?
Cameroon’s Anglo-Saxon conflict is gone 4,000 people died, At least nearly 1 million people have been evacuated 60,000 fled to neighboring Nigeria.. “Separatists want to prove that they control an English-speaking territory that they call their’hometown’,” Munz said.
“Their strategy has been very successful in disrupting livelihoods and undermining the social, economic and cultural activities of most of the region’s population, but they have driven the province of Cameroon out of the country’s English-speaking world. , Far from achieving their main purpose of “restoring independence” in this territory. “
To find a common rationale for the current stalemate, he states: “The Government of Cameroon has two Cameroons (speaking English and French) Gathered in 1961 to form an equal union, And stop pursuing programs of assimilation and conquest of the English-speaking world and its population.
“Separatists in Southern Cameroon Voted to achieve independence in 1961 by joining the Republic of Cameroon, Thereby creating the two into one sovereign and independent country, abandoning their ambition to “restore the independence of Southern Cameroon.” After that, the people of Cameroon need to hold a national conference to establish and implement a constitutional framework for their new governance that meets their aspirations across 10 regions. “
U.S.-based Communications Secretary Ambassonia Interim Government, Chris Anu, His people are not “fighting for the Commonwealth,” he told the Epoch Times.
“But the fact that we forced La Republique du Cameroon [the Cameroon government] In essence, now we start discussing the coalition within their circle. It was abominable to their ears from the beginning, but tells you that they are nearing the end of this, “Anu said.
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Nalova Akua is a multimedia freelance journalist in Cameroon.