The Human Rights Watch (HRW) in their latest report pertaining to the more than five-year-old Anglophone armed conflict in Cameroon has said the denial of education or attack against education is destroying the future of children in the North West and South West Regions of the country. In their report entitled: “They Are Destroying Our Future” HRW has painted a picture of what has been happening in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions since 2016.

The Anglophone armed conflict or the Ambazonian War of Independents or the fight for the restoration of the autonomy of Southern Cameroons started in 2016 when the teachers and lawyers protested against marginalisation by the Cameroon government in the area of justice and education systems. As a result of the government’s being reluctant to address these issues, the lawyers and teachers form a coalition, the “Anglophone Civil Society Consortium” and call for a school boycott and Monday sit a home protest which has been going on to present. As reported by Human Rights Watch, ” Tensions escalated in October and November 2016 and again in September and October 2017 when Cameroonian security forces used excessive force against peaceful protests led by teachers and lawyers. Different Anglophone armed separatist groups have since emerged and grown, and education soon became a primary battleground.”

The members of the Anglophone Civile Society Consortium were later arrested and imprisoned in Kondengui Prison in Yaounde. As a result, the Diaspora Anglophone Cameroonian took over the struggle till today and have old on to these school boycotts.

Recently, the armed separatists have increased attacks against education in the North West and South West Regions including the Kumba massacre, the attack in the University of BUEA, etc.

According to Human Rights Watch, the separatist fighters or the Ambazonian fighters are destroying the future of children as they have continued to attack students, teachers and school facilities in sharp “Separatist fighters began to order and enforce school boycotts, including by attacking scores of schools across the Anglophone regions. They have also used school buildings, such as Sara’s school, as bases for storing weapons and ammunition as well as holding and torturing hostages. Separatist fighters have also attacked, students, education professionals, and parents in their attempts to keep children out of school. These attacks, the resulting fear, and the deteriorating security situation have caused school closures across the Anglophone regions, denying students access to education.”

The Human Rights Watch also said that the Cameroonian security forces have not been doing enough in responding to these attacks as they said that the security forces have also been abusive against the civilian population and this have sewed deep distrust. “While armed separatists bear full responsibility for their targeted attacks on education, the response by the Cameroonian government and security forces has been insufficient and is hampered by the fact that they have conducted many abusive counterinsurgency operations in the English-speaking regions which sewed deep distrust among the civilian population victimized in those operations. Sometimes the abusive operations have also had a direct impact on education. For example, the report documents security forces burning at least one school which was being used by armed separatists as a base. Therefore, while enhanced security should offer protection to students and teachers, in practice many students and teachers also fear abuses from the security forces.”

Between November 2020 and November 2021, HRW interviewed 155 persons including 29 current students, former students and 47 teachers through telephone interviewed. “Based on telephone interviews conducted between November 2020 and November 2021 with 155 people, including 29 current and former students as well as 47 teachers and education professionals, this report documents attacks on students, teachers, and schools, as well as the use of schools by armed separatist groups, in the North-West and South-West regions between March 2017 and November 2021. It also examines the impact of those attacks, which have denied approximately 700,000 students an education. After describing the Cameroonian government’s responses, it highlights gaps and, more importantly, potential solutions that the Cameroonian authorities, in collaboration with their international partners, should implement to stop and address attacks on education.”

Key Recommendations

To Leaders of Separatist Groups

• End the school boycott as well as attacks and threats against students, teachers, education officials, and schools, publicly announcing that this policy and tactics have been ended.
• Issue statements and disseminate pamphlets, leaflets, and instructions among members and fighters explaining and endorsing the need to comply with international human rights law.

To Armed Separatist Groups’ Fighters

• Cease all human rights abuses, including killing, torturing, kidnapping, extorting, and threatening civilians, including students and teachers.
• Immediately cease all recruitment of children under 18 years old.
• Immediately release all kidnapped civilians, including students and teachers.
• Immediately cease using schools for any purpose, including for bases, storage, and detaining individuals.

To the Cameroonian Government

• Ensure students deprived of educational facilities because of the crisis are promptly given access to alternative accessible forms of education, such as community education, distance learning, and temporary learning schools or spaces, with suitable equipment and adequately trained teachers. Education should be accessible to children with disabilities.
• Establish a credible and inclusive reparations program, through a transparent and participatory process, to support victims of attacks on education and their families. Such a program should be sensitive to the needs of women and men, boys and girls, and address the needs of students and families living with disabilities and those in hard-to-reach areas.
• Consider establishing two special task forces, one to assess and make recommendations regarding investigations into attacks on education and prosecutions of perpetrators; the second to further the re-establishment and protection of access to education for all on an equal basis (see Section XI: “The Way Forward.”)

Click HERE to Read recommendations to the UN, UN Security Council, African Union, and other International bodies

Click Here to Read the full report

Berinyuy Cajetan, Publisher

Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.