COVID-19 Prompts Cameroon Ceasefire
The Cameroonian Military Has Been Fighting Militant Separatist Groups Since 2017. (Wikimedia Commons)
Cameroon’s English-speaking regions declared a ceasefire on March 29 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to BBC. Other rebel groups have not responded in kind, failing to adhere to the United Nations’ call for a global ceasefire to help combat the spread of the virus. Experts do not view this ceasefire as a sustainable end to the growing conflict in Cameroon.
In response to the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic in recent months, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for “an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world.” He urged warring parties to stop fighting in order “to help create corridors for life-saving aid” and “to bring hope to places among the most vulnerable to COVID-19.”
In response to the UN call, a rebel group called the Southern Cameroon Defence Forces (Socadef), announced a 14-day ceasefire to allow people to get tested and treated for the virus, according to RFI. However, other rebel groups have refused to do the same. The Ambazonia Governing Council, which controls the Ambazonia Defense Forces (ADF), one of the largest English-speaking armed groups in the country, announced its refusal to stop fighting. It declared on March 27 that “there shall not be a unilateral ceasefire in the Ambazonia war of independence because of [sic] Covid-19 pandemic.”
Cameroon’s various Anglophone rebel groups have increasingly clashed with the national government since late 2016. Their emergence coincided with a movement led by teachers and lawyers in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions in the north and southwest. BBC reports that these mass demonstrations protest the government’s lack of recognition for English education and legal systems. The protesters lamented the government’s alleged treatment of Anglophone Cameroonians as “second-class citizens,” according to International Crisis Group (ICG) Cameroon analyst Richard Moncrieff.
Soon after the protests, several English-speaking rebel groups formed and began fighting with the Cameroonian military, according to the ICG. In October 2017, the militant secessionist groups symbolically proclaimed independence for Ambazonia, the autonomous English-speaking region to the south, and sporadic fighting has continued since. Both the military and the rebel groups have been accused of killing civilians. In the past three years, at least 3,000 people have been killed, and approximately 680,000 displaced.
Cameroon’s language divide dates back to colonial divisions between Britain and France. The English-speaking population now makes up approximately 20 percent of the population. President Paul Biya, who has been in office for nearly 40 years, has rarely addressed the rebel groups.
Chief mediator from the conflict resolution group Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue Alexandre Liebeskind, has said that he hopes other rebel groups follow Socadef ’s example. The Cameroonian government has not yet commented on the UN’s call for a ceasefire.