Cameroon’s secessionist push risks sliding into a rebellion
English-speaking minority protests French dominance.
according to the government.
It marks a dangerous turn in the crisis that began about a year ago with peaceful protests against the French lan- guage’s dominance in courtrooms and schools. Attacks on the military “presented those A secessionist push in activists who were against Cameroon’s English-speak- armed combat before with ing regions is on the brink a fait accompli — those who of a full-blown revolt, threatwant to take up arms now ening political stability in a have the upper hand,” said country ruled by one of Afri- Hans De Marie Heungoup ca’s longest-serving leaders. from the International Crisis
Following a crackdown Group. “There’s a real risk of on independence supportrebellion that could make the ers who tried to raise flags Anglophone regions ungov- on government buildings in ernable.” the central African nation’s The secession issue in CamEnglish-speaking regions in eroon echoes a global trend October, at least 16 mem- spanning from Iraqi Kurdistan bers of the security forces and Catalonia in Spain, where have been killed in attacks leaders this year led thwarted the government blames on drives for independence, to the activists. This month a Africa itself. In neighboring mob of 200 men besieged a Nigeria there are new calls paramilitary police station, for a southeastern Biafran state, 50 years after a previous attempt led to a civil war that claimed a million lives. Meanwhile, Kenya’s political opposition, smarting from an election loss they blame on rigging, have warned some regions could seek to secede.
Cameroon’s English-speaking minority, about a fifth of the population, has complained of marginalization for decades and many highly educated Anglophones have moved abroad. The country, whose roads and ports are vital for landlocked neighbors such as oil-producing Chad, was split after World War I into a French-run zone and a smaller, British-controlled area.
Radical factions of the protest movement in the Northwest and Southwest regions now refer to the area as Ambazonia and discuss armed struggle on social media.