Cameroon: Situation Report, 14 February 2023

HIGHLIGHTS

• North-West and South-West situation report (1-31 December 2022)

• Security remains challenging with partners reporting at least 55 incidents directly affecting humanitarian partners in 2022.

• At least 81 teachers and students were abducted, five teachers and students were killed in 2022.

• Over 17 incidents of incidents/attacks on healthcare were reported in 2022.

• Suspected cases of measles were reported in the Benakuma health district in the North-West and in the Mamfe health district in the South-West.

Situation Overview / Humanitarian access

Throughout 2022, the situation in the North-West and South-West regions (NWSW) was tense with continued violence and targeted attacks against civilians. The population, as well as health and education providers, continued to face high risks when accessing facilities or when delivering health care and education services. They faced threats, direct attacks, and armed incursions. Armed confrontation, including the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), continued between parties to the crisis leading to the death, injury and displacement of populations. The situation was worsened by inter-communal clashes in the NWSW and the cholera epidemic in the South-West region (SW). The cumulative number of cholera cases was 6,040, with 93 deaths resulting in a case fatality rate of 1.5 per cent.

Security remained challenging with partners reporting over 55 incidents directly affecting humanitarian partners. The emergence of new non-State armed groups (NSAGs) coalitions on one hand, and the divisions within the ranks of other groups on the other hand made humanitarian access more complex. This situation was exacerbated by the increased activity of criminal groups operating in a similar manner as certain NSAGs.

More than 80,312 people were displaced within the NWSW and sometimes to other regions including the West, Centre, and Littoral regions due to violence in 2022. The displacements within the NWSW were usually pendular, with most of the displaced persons returning to their place of origin once the security situation improved. Inter-communal clashes also led to deaths and displacements in the NWSW. In June, inter-communal violence resulted in the displacement of over 2,000 people in Balin, Akwaya subdivision in the SW. In the NW, inter-communal clashes in July, resulted in 8 civilian casualties and 103 people displaced in the Wum subdivision.

Education continued to be politicized with some NSAGs enforcing a no school policy in some rural and semi-urban communities. In September, various NSAGs made contradictory statements to announce their position on education as schools were preparing to open doors. Their positions varied from the authorization of community and private schools to the banning of Government formal education facilities and threats of attacks on teachers and students. NSAGs enforced a two-week violent lockdown from 5 to 16 September to boycott the start of the academic year. During this period, 24 school children were abducted and three schools were partially burnt. Since January 2022, the abduction of at least 81 teachers and students have been reported. Five teachers and students were killed, at least seven teachers and students were injured and about eight incidents of arson on educational facilities were also reported.

Attacks on healthcare remained extremely concerning. Over 17 incidents of attacks on healthcare were reported since January 2022. Incidents included kidnappings, and abductions of hospital staff, killing and arson of hospital facilities, threats, forceful removal of patients from hospitals and arbitrary arrest of hospital personnel. On 26 February, a nurse from a medical NGO was killed and two other medical staff injured when their car was shot at by a NSAG, at a checkpoint at the outskirts of Bamenda town in the NW. The Mamfe district hospital, a referral health facility for about 144,895 persons, was burned down in June during a confrontation between NSAGs and SSF.

Humanitarian actors continued to operate in an very insecure environment and under numerous constraints in the NWSW. Clashes between parties, demands for illegal payments, repeated lockdowns and roadblocks by NSAGs, diversion of humanitarian aid, abductions, kidnappings, and the use of IEDs by NSAGs in public spaces and main roads frequently used by humanitarians in both urban and rural areas made delivery of humanitarian assistance and programming very challenging.

Bureaucratic impediments continue to be major access constraints for humanitarian organizations. In the SW, procedures for humanitarian organizations to implement activities were unilaterally changed by regional authorities in June, requiring humanitarian actors to seek further authorization from divisional authorities, thereby, making the procedure more difficult and lengthier. In addition, one humanitarian organization has indefinitely suspended its activities in the SW because staff were arrested, detained, and charged in court. They were accused of collaboration with NSAGs. They were all acquitted after a period of detention ranging from 3 months to 12 months.

Overall, humanitarian access in the NWSW remained challenging and volatile but possible, requiring significant resources for organizations to conduct all required access negotiations and ensure safe humanitarian operations. The services of the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) remained suspended in the SW since 2020 and the NW since 2021.