Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon: Human Rights Organisation calls on all stakeholders to endorse school resumption, academic year 2022/2023
5 min read
The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA) in a statement relating to the resumption of schools in Cameroon, 2022/2023 academic year amidst the ongoing Anglophone crisis have call on all stakeholders to endorse and fully implement the recommendations of the UN and the various diplomatic missions on the matter of the protection of children’s right to education and to allow schools to effectively resume in Anglophone Cameroon.
Below is the full statement officially published on their website on 5 September 2022.
Today marks the first day of school for the academic year 2022/2023 in Cameroon. Most schools in the Francophone section of the country have opened their doors to receiving schoolchildren, but this is unfortunately not the case with schools in most parts of the Anglophone regions where non-state armed separatist groups and Cameroon government authorities have continued to use the educational sector to make political gains in the sixth year of the Anglophone conflict. On August 22, 2022, the campus of PSS Mankon in Mezam Division was invaded and set ablaze by unknown gunmen, while on August 29, 2022, the Senior Divisional Officer for Boyo, Mr. Tegha Fidele, signed a prefectural order prohibiting the existence of 27 community and clandestine schools, of which some are mission schools owned by the church, and others have been created and run by NSAGs.
For the past six years, school doors have remained closed in Anglophone regions as non-state armed separatist groups enforced a ban on school attendance, and in areas where schools have managed to operate, insecurity due to deadly skirmishes carried out on school premises has continued to scare most parents from sending their children to school. In the 2021/2022 academic year, Fonyuy Dora, a pupil of St Theresa Nursery and Primary School, lost her life in an attack between armed separatist fighters and government forces in her school premises in Kumbo, Bui Division, Northwest Region, on May 24, 2022. The killing of Fonyuy Dora was preceded by a series of other attacks perpetrated against schoolchildren and places of learning, including the IED attack at Amphitheatre 600 of the University of Buea by one of the NSAGs, the killing of Carolaise Enondiale in Buea and the killing of Tataw Brandy in Bamenda by a gendarme and police officer respectively, the attack in Government High School Ekondo Titi, leading to the death of a female teacher and three students, and the arson of Queen of the Rosary College Okoyong in Mamfe on February 11, 2022, by NSAG fighters.
On July 11, 2022, the United Nations Office of the Special Representative for the Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict issued a statement on Grave Violations Against Children in Cameroon (Far North and Northwest and Southwest Regions), stating that 174 violations have occurred including inter alia: 22 attacks against schools and hospitals, 55 abductions, and 75 killings and maimings.[i] Of the 174 violations, 80 took place in the Northwest and Southwest Regions.[ii]
These attacks on schools underscore the fact that educational institutions have remained a target throughout the Anglophone Crisis since it started in 2016. As the crisis deepened, some factions of armed separatist fighters began to call for a limited form of schooling in areas where the security situation permitted, while others insisted on creating ‘community schools’ managed by NSAGs or complete closure of all schools.
During the UNHRC49, the United Kingdom issued a statement on Cameroon stating that: “We remain concerned about human rights in Cameroon, including attacks on and restrictions to education. All actors should stop attacking and obstructing schools, children and teachers. We continue to urge impartial investigations to hold perpetrators of violations and abuses to account. We reiterate the need for a continued and broad dialogue.”[iii]
At the same event, the European Union also issued a statement on Cameroon stating that: “The EU remains concerned about the grave human rights violations and abuses committed by both state and non-state actors in Cameroon and calls for accountability for all abusive actions. The EU strongly condemns the attacks on schools, children and teachers. In the Far North regions, the EU strongly condemns the attacks committed by the Boko Haram group and reaffirms its commitment to the fight against terrorism. In the North-West and South-West regions it urges the parties, to implement confidence-building measures, make use of existing mediation formats provided by third parties and engage in an inclusive political dialogue. The EU calls on the government to abide by its international human rights obligations and urges all parties to put an end to all violence and civilian suffering. Civil and political rights continue to be restricted nationally.”[iv]
On February 15, 2022, the representatives of diplomatic missions in Cameroon including Canada, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, UK, and USA issued a joint statement on the right to education in Cameroon, reiterating that children have the right to education and their education will be vital in ensuring the continued vibrancy in the Anglophone communities in the Northwest and Southwest Regions. They urged stakeholders to respect UNSCR 2601 on protection of education in armed conflict and take steps to stop attacking schools, teachers, and children; and to publicly support the right to attend schools, and hold to account those who work to deny access to places of learning.
In light of school resumption 2022, CHRDA adds its voice, as it has been doing the past six years, to call on all stakeholders to create an enabling environment to allow children to go back to school. CHRDA recommends all stakeholders endorse and fully implement the recommendations of the UN and the various diplomatic missions on the matter of the protection of children’s right to education and to allow schools to effectively resume in Anglophone Cameroon.
[i] https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/where-we-work/cameroon/
[ii] https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Secretary-General-Annual-Report-on-children-and-armed-conflict.pdf, pages 30 and 31
[iii] https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/un-human-rights-council-49-uk-statement-under-item-2-general-debate
[iv] https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-geneva/hrc-49-eu-statement-general-debate-hc-oral-update_en
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.
