Armed conflict
Attempts by government security forces to vigorously quell down peaceful protest have been blamed for the insurgence of several armed militias in the Anglophone region (UNOCHA 2018). The armed groups have a secessionist agenda and have been in confrontation with government forces in a conflict dubbed the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) war of independence. Anglophone secessionist groups are demanding an independent Ambazonia Republic (GRID 2019). The main militias operating in the region are the Ambazonia defence forces, Southern Cameroons Defence Forces, Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces, Red Dragons, Bafut Seven Karta, Manyu Ghost Warriors, Amberland Forces, Amberland Quifos, Amberland Marine Forces, Manyu Ghost Warriors, Menchum Falls Warriors, Tigers of Ambazonia, Warriors of Nso, White Tigers, and Vipers. The number of fighters in each of these groups is estimated to range from around a dozen to more than 500 (ICG 2019). The militias have allegiance to different Cameroon diaspora organisations purportedly sponsoring them. Notably are the Southern Cameroons Liberation CouncilFootnote 12, the Ambazonia Governing Council, and the Ambazonia Defence Council (ICG 2019; AFP 2018; JournalduCameroun 2020).
To expedite military victory, the government increased its fire power by deploying helicopters and armoured vehicles and numerically reinforced its elite special forces. Despite these efforts and casualties suffered by the militias, they still control vast rural areas and main roads in the conflict region. The conflict has caused over 3000 fatalities and affected around 1.3 million people (internally displaced persons and refugees included) with dreadful repercussions for the population of the region (APF 2018; Craig 2020).
Insecurity and lack of authority
The government’s loss of full control of the region creates an environment of insecurity for the population, humanitarian space, and the belligerent forces. There is power tussle between the government and militia/secessionist groups to control geographical areas. The Interim Government of the Republic of AmbazoniaFootnote 13, the Ambazonia Governing Council, and some political activists in the diaspora are using the militia forces and secessionist groups to control huge areas in the restive region (Fig. 2). The terrified population has respected orders to boycott schools and violate administrative orders. Separatist fighters are alleged to have attacked students, teachers, and the population to enforce school boycott orders. Furthermore, they have been accused of kidnapping denizens and relief workers for ransom; hence, non-governmental organisations have limited their operations. Government security forces are accused of raiding schools, religious premises, and hospitals hosting internally displaced persons and indiscriminately killing civilians and burning houses/markets in separatist strongholds. In order to curb the violence, the government has taken security measures such as imposing curfews; restrictions on gatherings, movements of people, and circulation of cars/motorbikes; and including more checkpoints (Craig 2020; ICG 2019; UNOCHA 2018; Nsonzefe 2019; JournalduCameroun 2018a).
The traumatised population has been caught between government and separatist forces. Communities in areas where the armed groups operate dread the presence of security forces, alleged to kill indiscreetly in communities hosting separatist fighters. According to Lazar (2019), the levels of distrust in the security forces have increased sharply in the Anglophone regions since 2015 from 22 to 62%. Likewise, communities perceived to be in support of the security forces are at the mercy of the militia groups.
Human rights violations
The Anglophone crisis is characterised by human rights violations. On January 17, 2017, the government shut down Internet access in the restive region for 93 days to curtail dissent amongst the population. This was regarded by many local and international organisationsFootnote 14 as an outright violation of constitutional and human rights to access information and freedom of expression (Calis 2018).
Government security forces have been accused of using excessive force, extrajudicial killings, torture, and ill-treatment of suspected separatists and detainees. They have also razed and burnt property including houses in more than 170 villages in the Anglophone region. A notable case is the alleged massacre of 21 unarmed civilians in Ngarbuh village (North West Region) on February 14, 2020.Footnote 15 After this tragic incident, government officials accused some aid agencies of colluding with the separatist to incriminate the security forces.Footnote 16 In June 2019, the government started to systematically track and vet humanitarian operations in the region.Footnote 17 Accusations have also been levied against armed separatists for abductions and killing of security forces, administrators, and civilians perceived to be colluding with the government (Ajumane 2018; Craig 2020; Egeland 2019; HRW 2018, 2020; GRID 2019; ICG 2019).
Contemporary data on political freedom in the crisis region is staggering. An estimated 81% of Anglophones have less freedom to express their political views than a few years earlier and they are twice more likely to fear violence and political intimidation than Francophones (Lazar 2019). The restive region massively boycotted the October 2018 presidential elections and the February 2020 Municipal and Legislative elections that came on the heels of a national dialogue to resolve the Anglophone crisis. The national dialogue is considered by some critics a failure since fighting continues unabated.
Massive population displacement
The Anglophone crisis has caused over 900,000 internally displaced persons and 60,000 refugees (Craig 2020; ICG 2019). Thousands of people have fled to the predominantly French-speaking region and across the border into Nigeria. In villages that are conflict hotspots, around 80% of the inhabitants have escaped and sought refuge in the bushes/forest. The most hit areas are Boyo and Meme Divisions of the North West Region and the South West Region respectively (Fig. 3) where dozens of villagers have almost been emptied of their population (UNOCHA 2018; UNHCR 2019; GRID 2019).
Consequences on public health
The conflict is having a serious toll on the health of the population. Internally displaced persons and the populace that fled to the bushes are living in unsanitary and unhygienic conditions. There is rampant open-air defecation enabling the possible spread of diseases in the crowded living conditions in the bushes. The most vulnerable are the elderly, pregnant/lactating women, young girls out of school, and children under the age of 5.
The insecurity has caused the closure of many health facilities. Many hospitals and health centres (especially in the rural areas) have been attacked and torched. Others have been abandoned because their staff are afraid of being kidnapped or caught in the crossfire (UNOCHA 2018; Egeland 2019). As of December 2018, an estimated 34% of health facilities in both regions were not functioning (Craig 2020). Those left are often poorly equipped and under pressure to treat the influx of the sick. Limited access to adequate health care exacerbates the suffering of the Anglophone population.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragile state of Cameroon’s health system (Bang et al. 2020) and further compounded the health problems of the population in the Anglophone region. The website of Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health reported 21,430 cases of coronavirus on October 22, 2020, with just 424 deaths. This figure is probably underreported since COVID-19 testing and data collation has not fully included insecure areas due to the Anglophone crisis and the Boko Haram insurgency.
We contend that while the pandemic can exacerbate the Anglophone crisis, the crisis can also affect the virus spread. The conflict restricted movement in the Anglophone region. This did not change much with COVID-19. The limitation on movement and lockdowns can prevent transmission of the virus. On the other hand, the restrictive measures imposed by the government to control the virus increased the suffering of the populace. A report about COVID-19 quotes a man in the North West Region who described both the Anglophone crisis and COVID-19 as “monsters” that have seriously affected his ability to feed his family despite being jobless (Song 2020). The OCHA (2020) estimated that only 46% of the population in the conflict-ridden Anglophone regions have access to information required for the prevention of COVID-19. This has implications for implementing infection prevention/control measures disseminated to the public. With 34% of the health facilities in the conflict-ridden region not functioning (Craig 2020), access to medical care for COVID-19 is limited.
Consequences on education
Education has been at the core of the dissenting voices of the Anglophone problem. All the seven legalised Anglophone teachers’ trade unionsFootnote 18 launched a campaign to abolish the unfair treatment of the English/Anglo-Saxon education sub-system in Cameroon. The conflict has repercussions for education due to separatist demands for educational establishments in the region to shut down until all education grievances that led to the crisis have been resolved. Educational facilities that defy the orders have been subjected to violence. Schools have been destroyed and their teachers/students threatened, abducted, and/or killed. In response, most educational institutions have been abandoned, keeping over 780,000 children out of school. Indeed, over 80% of schools have been closed in the restive region (UNICEF 2019). Consequently, primary school to university attendance dropped drastically with implications for enrolment to write the General Certificate of Education Ordinary and Advanced Levels.Footnote 19 In 2017, enrolment for the General Certificate of Education Ordinary and Advanced Levels dropped by 28% increasing to 75% in 2019—some students have relocated to study in the crisis-free regions. The domino effect of non-school attendance is social ills like child exploitation and child labour, early marriages, teenage pregnancies, juvenile delinquencies, increased teenage alcohol consumption and drug use, and more stealing/robbery (UNOCHA 2018; Egeland 2019; JournalduCameroun 2019a; ICG 2019: Craig 2020; Ludovica 2016; UNICEF 2019). These issues have long-term implications for increased illiteracy and poverty.
University education has also been affected in the region’s two Anglo-Saxon universities. Insecurity has kept some students away from the campuses and constantly disrupts academic activities. University lecturers are vulnerable to attacks and kidnapping. Many are frightened to continue working normally and have been seeking to leave the country. In 2019, the Institute for International Education Scholar Rescue Fund in the USA received an unusually high number of applications from Anglophone Cameroon scholars citing threats to their lives and academic carriers amidst the ongoing Anglophone crisis (IIE 2020).
Economic impact/effects
The Anglophone crisis is having huge economic and financial repercussions. Cameroon’s Gross Domestic Product growth rate, which was 5.8 in 2015 prior to the crisis, was downgraded to 3.9 in 2019 (World Bank 2017; IMF 2019). The Internet shutdown seriously affected Cameroon’s economic growth with an estimated loss of Franc CFA 499 billion (US$ 846 million) (Mboumien 2018). Weekly “ghost towns”, restrictions on movementFootnote 20, and insecurity are affecting business transactions through slowed flow of goods, people, and services. Businesses and transport vehicles that refuse to respect “ghost town” days have been threatened and targeted. The security forces have also been accused of vandalising and burning business premises and markets. Consequently, hundreds of businesses have been paralysed in the region.
Insecurity has forced production and operational activities of the biggest companies in the region like the Cameroon Tea EstateFootnote 21, the Upper Nun Valley Development AuthorityFootnote 22, and the Cameroon Development CorporationFootnote 23 to dwindle. Exports of the major products from the region like banana, palm oil, coffee, and rice production dropped dramatically. Indeed, the Cameroon Development Corporation reduced its operational capacity to 26%Footnote 24 and recorded a net loss of Franc CFA 32 billion (around $55.3 million) during the 2018 fiscal year (Mbodiam 2020; Kindzeka 2019). This has huge implication for employment since the Cameroon Development Cooperation (located on the slopes of Mount Cameroon) is Cameroon’s second largest employer that employs people from all regions of the country.Footnote 25
Unemployment has soared in the region with over 30,000 more people rendered jobless due to the crisis. Cameroon’s Employers’ Association estimated that the formal economy of the region had lost around 6434 jobs by July 2018 and a further 8000 jobs were at risk. The unemployment rate in Buea—the regional capital of the South West Region, for instance—rose to 70%. The North West Region’s custom department reported revenue losses of over Franc CFA 200 million (around $362,000) for the 2018 fiscal year and the overall losses to Cameroon’s economy were estimated at Franc CFA 269 billion (around $489 million) for the same period. Road contractors have been attacked and threatened and their equipment vandalised/destroyed causing many to stop/abandon projects. Indeed, more than 80% of the public contracts awarded in the Anglophone region for the 2017/2018 fiscal year were not executed (ICG 2019; Mbodiam 2020; APF 2018).
While the economic effects are gloomy for Cameroon, some individuals, interest groups, and a few institutions have benefited. Business is probably booming for contractors supplying arms to the security forces and separatist fighters. Some political jobs were created and filled by Anglophones for the first time in Cameroon’s history—Anglophones were appointed as Ministers of Territorial Administration and Secondary Education. The government created a commission for the promotion of bilingualism and multiculturalism and a national disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration committee with Anglophones at their helm. Furthermore, common law divisions were created at Cameroon’s supreme court and the National School of Administration and Magistracy (Nsom 2017; Republic of Cameroon 2017). These appointments and new institutions were in a bit to diffuse the crisis.
Consequences on culture
The rich Anglophone culture has not been left unaffected. Traditional rulers and custodians of the cultures and traditions of the Anglophone region (particularly those perceived to be collaborating with the government) have been publicly attacked, beaten, kidnapped, or killed. In February 2018, armed men killed the supreme chief of the Balondo people in Ekondo Titi (South West Region). A few months later, 8 chiefs in Fako Division were kidnapped.Footnote 26 Inevitably, dozens of tribal chiefs went into hiding and currently live out of their palaces (JournalduCameroun 2018b; Kindzeka 2018).
In the North West Region, women have carried out burial rites in some of the crisis hotspots—a role traditionally reserved for men. Women were forced to bury corpses in Belo village (Boyo Division) in July 2018, when all the boys/men had fled from the security forces. Furthermore, dramatic footages emerged from the press and social media in January/February 2019 showing women carrying out burial rights in Bafut village (Mezam Division) after a military raid on armed separatist groups caused all the men to flee from the village (Journalducameroun 2019b). Prior to the crisis, it was a taboo in the cultures/traditions of the Anglophone region for women to perform burial and funeral rights.
Furthermore, palaces have been attacked and looted. For instance, in September 2018, Cameroon’s Rapid Intervention Battalion soldiers damaged parts of the roof of the Royal Palace in Bafut (North West Region) with the pretext of searching for separatist fighters. Under the same guise, soldiers raided the same place on 24 September 2019 and almost killed the brother of the paramount Fon of Bafut (Abumbi II) when he was shot and wounded. They then allegedly looted the museum in the palace and took several rare centuries-old artefacts. In both instances, no separatist fighters were found (HRW 2019). Ironically, under the recommendation of Cameroon’s Ministry of Arts and Culture, UNESCO had placed the Royal Bafut Place on its tentative List of World Heritage Sites (UNESCO 2018). The government, therefore, has the obligation to protect the Bafut Royal Palace and preserve its artefacts, since the palace is one of the most significant historical and cultural heritage sites in the country.
Humanitarian assistance
The conflict has triggered the request for urgent funding needed to meet massive humanitarian needs (UNICEF 2019). Many humanitarian organisations have done needs assessments in the region in diverse areas: food security (FAO, WFP); shelter and non-food items (UNHCR); protection (IOM, IMC, UNFPA, IMC, UNICEF, UN Women); health (AHA, IMC, UNAID, UNFPA, WHO, UNICEF); education (UNICEF); water, sanitation, and hygiene (UNICEF, PIC, UNDSS, OCHA); safety (UNDSS); and coordination (OCHA) (Egeland 2019; UNOCHA 2018). UNICEF has so far supported more than 140,000 children; provided 30,000 children with psychological support identified 972 displaced and unaccompanied children and plans to reunite them with their families; and supplied water, sanitation, and hygiene kits to over 78,000 people (UNICEF 2019). Despite the zeal to help, the humanitarian organisations were able to reach just 40% in dire need of assistance in 2019 and only 18% of the requested budget was funded (Craig 2020). This implies the operation is suboptimal. As the crisis persists, the humanitarian and funding needs will further increase, limiting the capacity of the aid agencies to deliver.