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Canada will host talks “with the aim of achieving a comprehensive, peaceful and political solution” to the separatist conflict that has plagued western Cameroon’s Anglophone for more than six years.
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Melanie Jolie, has announced a peace process aimed at resolving the ongoing wars in Cameroon’s northwest and southwest regions. This is the latest bid to settle the war in Cameroon.
At a press conference on Friday 20 January, the minister said some parties to the conflict had agreed to set up a “technical committee to initiate work on confidence-building measures”.
The parties involved are “the Republic of Cameroon, the Ambazonia Governing Council and the Ambazonia Defense Forces, the African People’s Liberation Movement and the South Cameroon Defense Forces, the Interim Government and the Ambazonia Coalition Team”.
“Canada has accepted the mandate to facilitate this process as part of our commitment to promote peace and security and to promote support for democracy and human rights,” said Melanie Jolie. rice field.
She said that the parties participating in this mediation were [would] Participate in the process. ”
forgotten war
Since 2017, the Cameroonian military has been fighting separatist extremists. Both sides have been accused of atrocities in fighting that left more than 6,000 dead, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).
“Civilians are bearing the brunt of the ongoing crisis in Cameroon,” Melanie Jolie said. “As a result of this crisis, nearly 800,000 people have been forced from their homes and 600,000 children have been denied a full education.”
Cameroonian officials have not commented on Canada’s announcement. In his New Year’s address to the diplomatic corps in Yaoundé on January 6, President Paul Biya said his country “remained committed to resolving disputes peacefully through dialogue and negotiations.
Canada called the agreement to enter the formal process “an important first step toward peace and a more secure, inclusive and prosperous future for conflict-affected civilians.”
“We encourage all stakeholders to support and work with the parties to advance and contribute to an inclusive process to reach a lasting and sustainable political solution.”
In June 2019, the Swiss Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the state’s intervention in the political crisis raging in Cameroon’s English-speaking north-west and south-west regions.
A few months later, in September 2019, Cameroon hosted the Grand National Dialogue. However, although the five-day talks were boycotted by most separatist leaders, they attracted more than 1,000 participants. They recommended giving “special status” to the Northwest and Southwest regions, home to most of the Anglophone minorities, who make up 16% of Cameroon’s population.
Years later, the prospects for an English-speaking peace in the country remain distant.
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