Cameroon’s Anglophone regions under threat, 40,000 forced to flee to Nigeria: UN

Not less than 1.3 million people in Cameroon are now in requirement of assistance with nearly 40,000 more had been forced to flee to Nigeria with the worsening of humanitarian situation in the country's south-west and north-west regions.

The United Nations revealed on Monday that the situation in Cameroon "continues to be characterised by human rights and protection abuses and violations." While briefing the UN correspondents in New York, Farhan Haq, the organization's spokesperson said that 530,000 others had been internally displaced.

According to News Agency of Nigeria, the crisis in Cameroon's English-speaking regions begun in 2016 when separatists started an armed struggle for a breakaway state they call Ambazonia. The government forces vehemently responded leading to accusations of extra-judicial killings and burning of villages. Farhan Haq cited that around 2,800 protection violation incidents had been reported in the first six months of 2019. The attacks by non-state armed groups against the villagers have highly augmented in the far north of Cameroon since the starting of 2019 leading to new displacements.

"House destruction and child protection violations are those reported in greatest numbers. Around 1,300 people were reportedly being displaced last week alone. Attacks also resulted in dozens of civilian deaths, hundreds of houses set ablaze, and widespread looting of civilian goods," Haq added.

According to Haq, only 20 percent of the USD 300 million requested by the humanitarian community this year has been received. He further cited that the responses in Cameroon still remains one of the most "critically underfunded humanitarian responses globally" despite increased humanitarian needs.

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