UN Humanitarian / The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) mobi

Cameroon

A peaceful protest that turned into a crisis

By UN HUMANITARIAN

MAY 13TH, 2019

Most of Cameroon is troubled. Eight out of ten of its regions are affected by three different humanitarian crises that unfolding at the same time. One in six Cameroonians now need urgent humanitarian assistance.

The crisis in the English-speaking parts of Cameroon – North-West and South-West regions – started in 2016 as peaceful protests. But in 2018 the protests escalated into one of Africa’s fastest-growing displacement crises.

There are direct attacks on schools and hospitals. Ordinary people are abducted, including children and local aid workers. There are lockdowns and attacks every day. All this has made it very challenging for humanitarian aid workers to access and help people.

In 2018, about 160,000 people needed humanitarian assistance in the North-West and South-West regions. Today, there are more than 1.3 million people in need, which is about a third of Cameroon’s population in the North-West and South-West.

Despite the extreme difficulties, the United Nations and our partners have managed to access people through persistent engagement and negotiations.

We visited some of the most affected areas in the South-West and North-West regions and met with some of the most severely affected people. Here are some of the stories of affected people in the South-West in their own words.

*Names have been changed to protect identities.

Isaiah*

I am 58 years old. On 1 October 2018, it became unbearable for us to stay in our village because there were continuous gun battles. We had no other choice but to run to the bushes, and later people helped us find this place in the plantation land.

We are still scared here because we don’t know what is going to happen. Being blind means I must rely on my wife and children. They bear the risk when they go to the market and do small business to feed us. But we have almost nothing – no clothes to wear, no soap to bathe with and no books or toys for the children….

My children cannot go to school because all schools here [location withheld to protect identity] have been shut down. I don’t know what the future of my children will look like.

I am blind but as you can see for yourself, part of the roof of this house was destroyed; we are inside because we have no option. The rainy season is here now, and it is very wet in the house. If the trouble starts again, where will I and my family run to next? I don’t know.

Ariane*

I am 25 years old, and I have a 7-month-old baby. We fled our neighbourhood six months ago when the fighting forced me to leave. I am a trained hairdresser and used to have a small hair salon making enough money for me to live on.

I am now renting a small plank house and spend my time looking after my daughter and trying to find work.

My house was burned down and my neighbour, a good friend, was killed, and that forced me to run for my life.

Life is tough here now, especially as an internally displaced person. The fact that I am just 25 years old and a single woman is often very difficult with the local men. They often become hostile when I say that I just want to be alone with my daughter.

Irene*

I am 49 years old. I am a single mother of three children. My husband died of liver cancer 15 years ago.

One Sunday morning, two years ago, while we were leaving the church in our village, we were suddenly attacked inside the church. There were bullets flying everywhere and many people were killed.

We just ran into bushes and had to stay there for over a week. We then made our way to another village, but it was very difficult.

On our way, we were attacked again, and some of the young boys in our group were shot and killed as we ran. It was terrible.

The memories of that bloodshed and those dead boys will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Isabelle*

I have six children and I am 50 years old. My husband died in late 2016 from malaria and typhoid, during intense fighting. We had no money to take him to the hospital and the roads were very dangerous.

We used to grow bananas and other vegetables that we sold at the market. As the fighting continued, the armed groups came and moved into our land, so it became impossible for us to farm.

Then one day, our house was burned down. And one of my sister’s sons, an 18-year-old boy, was killed in front of my eyes.

I have now been living here [location withheld for protection of identity] since January 2017. We are just managing to survive, as I have started a small business buying and selling rice and palm oil.

This year, I have chickens, which is part of a local programme. This really helps us as we have so little money for food.

Now all I want is my children to be safe and for them to go to school. I will never go back home.

Adele*

I am 34 years old. I have been living here in the camp with my five children, but now host seven internally displaced people, including four girls. They are not my relatives. They were forced to flee their town in October 2018.

We sleep on very tiny mattresses on the floor. The four girls are close to 15 years and have no money to buy “women’s things”.

Presently, I don’t know what to do with them because my husband is no longer working.

Our needs are many, but for now we are just wishing that people should come and help us with food and some basic supplies.

The United Nations and NGOs need US$299 million to reach 2.3 million people, including one third of them in the North-West and South-West regions. Only $38 million of the money needed has been received so far, less than 13 per cent of the financial support required.