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The UN and NGOs are sounding the alarm about the humanitarian situation in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, affected by a low-intensity conflict between separatists and government authorities, while refugees are flocking to neighboring Nigeria.
For Allegra Maria Del Pilar Baiocchi, UN humanitarian coordinator for Cameroon, there are “many humanitarian needs,” for the five million inhabitants of the English-speaking regions. The crisis has “an impact on civilians that goes beyond violence: an impact on health, on employment," she explains.
In response to Yaoundé’s strong deployment of troops, the socio-political crisis affecting the Cameroonian regions of the North-West and South-West has gradually turned into a low-intensity armed conflict marked by isolated attacks against civilians, symbols of the state.
“As in any scenario of armed conflict, the civilian population pays the consequences of violence, insecurity and fear," said Alberto Jodra Marcos, head of mission of the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières-Suisse in Cameroon.
The United Nations (UN) says there are "tens of thousands" of internally displaced people in English-speaking areas. 40,000 IDPs in the Mamfe and Kumba districts of the South West region are among the most affected by the conflict, according to the UN.
"Impossible" access in regions
"Access is impossible in English-speaking areas, we do not know what is happening there," said a humanitarian source, for whom it is "impossible" to know the exact number of civilians displaced.
"There are a lot of questions about access," says Allegra Maria Del Pilar Baiocchi, the Cameroonian authorities restricting the possibilities of displacement in areas subjected to curfews for civilians.
"It's complicated for organizations like ours to do field missions. We are in a situation of war. We can not send collaborators everywhere, "says Agbor Bala Nkongho, director of the NGO Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa.
Many refugees in Nigeria
According to the Nigerian Local Emergency Management Agency (Sema), 34,000 Cameroonians have taken refuge in the state of Cross River on the other side of the border.
Most Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria are "cared for by local communities," says Sema director John Inaku, although a first formal, cross-government-backed, UN-backed refugee camp has been announced. .
For Peter Kechi, head of the village of Bashu, 5 km from the border with Cameroon, where the population has grown from 1,500 people to more than 4,000 in a few months. Refugees cross the border on foot, into mountainous areas and dense forests that are very inaccessible, making registration difficult.
The next step is to find how to meet the needs
The UN says "arrivals continue," with 20,485 Cameroonians registered in Nigeria. "We have just returned from an evaluation mission in English-speaking regions (Cameroon), we know more or less where are the needs, we know what are the needs, the next step is [to find] how to respond," explains Allegra Maria Del Pilar Baiocchi.
In the English-speaking area, MSF first provided training on "caring for the wounded and trauma" and then "donations of medicines and equipment". But "the flight of staff and the closure of some health centers leave many communities in a precarious situation," says Alberto Jodra Marcos.
Although the separatists have set fire to many schools since the beginning of the crisis, the Cameroonian army is regularly singled out by NGOs and press reports for abuses against civilians. There is "misinformation on the part of some NGOs," defends AFP a security source, while the authorities denied the block of allegations of abuse. LVV
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