Simon Tisdall writes:

Cameroon, a central African state of 24 million people on the Gulf of Guinea, is rarely in the news – which is surprising, given the awful things happening there. In a warring world full of conflict, the country’s troubles barely rate a mention. That’s short-sighted. As Yemen shows, today’s local difficulties have a habit of becoming tomorrow’s international crises.

Long-running tensions between Cameroon’s French and English-speaking communities came to a head last week with the arrest of at least 350 members of the main opposition party, whose leader has been jailed since January. Human Rights Watch accused security forces of using “excessive and indiscriminate force”.

Political repression may be the least of Cameroon’s worries. According to a new Norwegian Refugee Council report, Cameroon is the world’s most neglected displacement crisis. Since 2016, conflict between government forces and non-state armed groups has forced 450,000 people from their homes.

According to the report, “780,000 children are out of school. Hundreds of villages have been burned down, tens of thousands of people are hiding in the bush with no humanitarian support, and attacks are taking place every day.” Both the government and separatists are accused of “horrific human rights violations”.

Though the specifics vary, Cameroon does not suffer in isolation. Its instability reflects that of its neighbours – Nigeria, Chad and the Central African Republic – and the wider Sahel region. Across this vast area, home to numerous other under-reported conflicts, the developed world’s present-day neglect is sowing a poisonous future harvest. [Continue reading…]