Cameroon: When a political dispute becomes a war

Since October 2018, at least 170 civilians have been killed in over 220 incidents in the North-West and South-West‚ regions, according to Human Rights Watch reporting on 28 March 2019. Fighting between government‚ security forces and separatist militants from Cameroon"s English-speaking minority has continued unabated since October 2017. Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "English-speaking citizens in the North-West and South-West regions had been protesting for years about economic marginalization and underrepresentation in the central government. But as the Evangelical Focus pointed out in a report on 5 December 2018, this political dispute has now become a war which is threatening the freedom of Christians, with churches being commandeered for military barracks and up to 50 schools and church-run hospitals being affected, at times by kidnappings. Among the many thousands of displaced people, it is estimated that around 100 pastors of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon have fled the areas of conflict." Yonas Dembele adds: "Beside this crisis in the south, the government is also having to deal with continuing attacks in the north by Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram militants crossing the border from Nigeria."