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Cameroon

An aerial view of rising waters around the Numan bridge is seen in the Numan community of Adamawa State, Nigeria, on Sept. 25.
An aerial view of rising waters around the Numan bridge is seen in the Numan community of Adamawa State, Nigeria, on Sept. 25.

Floods Devastate West Africa

Hundreds of thousands of people are suffering in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger due to government failures to invest in preventive infrastructure.

Africa Brief |
Nosmot Gbadamosi
Cameroonian army soldiers secure the perimeter of a polling station in Lysoka, near Buea, southwestern Cameroon, on October 7, 2018 during presidential elections.
Cameroonian army soldiers secure the perimeter of a polling station in Lysoka, near Buea, southwestern Cameroon, on October 7, 2018 during presidential elections.

Ethnic Clashes in Cameroon Aren’t About Religion

There have long been tensions between Muslim Mbororo pastoralists and Christian groups, but the war between Anglophone secessionists and the government has enflamed them.

Argument |
R. Maxwell Bone
Cameroonian soldiers conduct the daily flag-lowering ceremony at the Force Multinationale Mixte base in Mora, Cameroon, on Sept. 28, 2018.
Cameroonian soldiers conduct the daily flag-lowering ceremony at the Force Multinationale Mixte base in Mora, Cameroon, on Sept. 28, 2018.

Biya Bets on Russia

Cameroon’s president signs a security deal with Putin amid war in Ukraine and conflict at home.

Africa Brief |
Nosmot Gbadamosi
Cameroonian President Paul Biya and first lady Chantal Biya wave to the crowd at the Africa Cup of Nations in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on Jan. 9.
Cameroonian President Paul Biya and first lady Chantal Biya wave to the crowd at the Africa Cup of Nations in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on Jan. 9.

Biya Basks in Soccer Spotlight in Hopes of Propaganda Win

Cameroon’s regime wouldn’t be the first to use sports to whitewash a brutal conflict.

Argument |
Christian Freymeyer
Dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the Africa Cup of Nations at Stade d'Olembé in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on Jan. 9.
Dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the Africa Cup of Nations at Stade d'Olembé in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on Jan. 9.

Cameroon Hosts Africa Cup of Nations Amid Ongoing Violence

The soccer tournament is being held in the middle of ongoing conflict—and is still fighting for the world’s respect.

Africa Brief |
Nosmot Gbadamosi
Cameroonian army soldiers at a polling station in Lysoka, near Buea, southwestern Cameroon, on October 7, 2018.
Cameroonian army soldiers at a polling station in Lysoka, near Buea, southwestern Cameroon, on October 7, 2018.

Cameroon’s Forgotten Civil War Is Getting Worse

Infighting among Anglophone separatists and denial by the Cameroonian government are escalating the ongoing conflict.

Argument |
R. Maxwell Bone
Immigration officers walk on a bridge built in 1948 that connects Nigeria with Cameroon at Mfum border station in Cross Rivers State, southeast Nigeria on February 1, 2018.
Immigration officers walk on a bridge built in 1948 that connects Nigeria with Cameroon at Mfum border station in Cross Rivers State, southeast Nigeria on February 1, 2018.

Separatist Movements in Nigeria and Cameroon Are Joining Forces

Escalating pro-independence movements by Anglophone Cameroonians and Biafrans are igniting ethnic tensions and could threaten regional stability.

Dispatch |
Jess Craig
Migrants, many from Cameroon, listen to names being called in Tijuana, Mexico
Migrants, many from Cameroon, listen to names being called in Tijuana, Mexico

The United States Has Failed Cameroonian Asylum-Seekers

Fleeing a civil war shaped by the West, Cameroonians have been met on American shores with hostility, high-risk conditions, and now unconscionable deportation.

Argument |
Eli Cahan
Members of the Cameroonian Gendarmerie patrol in the Omar Bongo Square of Cameroon's majority Anglophone Southwest province capital Buea on Oct. 3, 2018.
Members of the Cameroonian Gendarmerie patrol in the Omar Bongo Square of Cameroon's majority Anglophone Southwest province capital Buea on Oct. 3, 2018.

Cameroon’s Government Is Deceiving the West While Diverting Foreign Aid

Paul Biya’s regime is ignoring the battle against Boko Haram and the Islamic State and using foreign counterterrorism assistance to fund its brutal repression of citizens with legitimate grievances.

Argument |
Chris W.J. Roberts, Billy Burton
A mother and child walk past a destroyed car in a small town on the main highway near Buea on May 11, 2019. The location is one of many residential areas that now sit empty as residents flee to the main city of Buea or into the deep tropical forests after violence in the region.
A mother and child walk past a destroyed car in a small town on the main highway near Buea on May 11, 2019. The location is one of many residential areas that now sit empty as residents flee to the main city of Buea or into the deep tropical forests after violence in the region.

Paul Biya Is Offering Cameroon’s Anglophones Too Little, Too Late

The Cameroonian government is seeking to implement a 1996 law it refused to enact for over two decades. The policy represents a fig leaf, not genuine decentralization, and will not resolve a crisis of Biya’s own making.

Argument |
R. Maxwell Bone
Hundreds of supporters raise their arms and wave the national flag while waiting to greet the Cameroonian opposition leader Maurice Kamto in Yaoundé on Oct. 5, the day of his release from prison.
Hundreds of supporters raise their arms and wave the national flag while waiting to greet the Cameroonian opposition leader Maurice Kamto in Yaoundé on Oct. 5, the day of his release from prison.

Trump Must Put Real Pressure on Cameroon

Symbolic half-measures like revoking preferential trade status are not enough to force the repressive regime of Paul Biya to change. Canceling IMF loans and military aid would show that the White House is serious.

Argument |
Chris W.J. Roberts
Cameroonians wait in line for food in a camp for internally displaced people in Kolofata, Cameroon, on Feb. 22, 2017.
Cameroonians wait in line for food in a camp for internally displaced people in Kolofata, Cameroon, on Feb. 22, 2017.

Cameroon Must Make Concessions to End the Anglophone Crisis

President Paul Biya won’t get anywhere without engaging directly with separatist grievances.

Argument |
Claire Hazbun, Ken Opalo
Supporters of Cameroonian President Paul Biya's party, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement, walk through Bongo Square under the watch of a gendarme in Buea, Cameroon, on Oct. 3, 2018.
Supporters of Cameroonian President Paul Biya's party, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement, walk through Bongo Square under the watch of a gendarme in Buea, Cameroon, on Oct. 3, 2018.

African Governments Rush to Hire Trump-Linked Lobbyists 

Accused of atrocities, Cameroon is only the latest to jump in, employing a firm that just brought on Donald Trump’s former acting attorney general.

Report |
Robbie Gramer, Jefcoate O'Donnell
Cameroonian President Paul Biya looks toward supporters from his motorcade in Yaoundé on Nov. 6, 2018.
Cameroonian President Paul Biya looks toward supporters from his motorcade in Yaoundé on Nov. 6, 2018.

The U.S. Should Bid Biya Goodbye

It’s time for Washington to renegotiate its ties with Cameroon's absentee leader.

Argument |
Jeffrey Smith
An Iranian military truck carries surface-to-air missiles past a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a parade on the occasion of the country's annual army day on April 18, 2018, in Tehran.
An Iranian military truck carries surface-to-air missiles past a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a parade on the occasion of the country's annual army day on April 18, 2018, in Tehran.

The World This Weekend

Iran’s saber-rattling falls flat, and Alabama’s anti-abortion law echos Romania’s past.

5 Top Reads |
Jefcoate O'Donnell
Ambazonia Military Forces General John, who says he commands thousands of rebel soldiers in Ambazonia, poses with his bodyguards in Borrere, Cameroon, the Ambazonian flag proudly hanging behind them, on Feb. 13.
Ambazonia Military Forces General John, who says he commands thousands of rebel soldiers in Ambazonia, poses with his bodyguards in Borrere, Cameroon, the Ambazonian flag proudly hanging behind them, on Feb. 13.

Cameroon’s Separatist Movement Is Going International

Armed groups are slipping into Nigeria and appealing to the Cameroonian diaspora to fuel their fight for a breakaway state.

Dispatch |
Gareth Browne
A woman carries a pot of water on her head in Rann in north-east of Nigeria close to the Cameroonian border on July 29, 2017.
A woman carries a pot of water on her head in Rann in north-east of Nigeria close to the Cameroonian border on July 29, 2017.

Cameroon Used to Welcome Refugees. Now It Forcibly Expels Them.

Nigerians fleeing violence at home are being kicked out of northern Cameroon and being sent back to areas terrorized by Boko Haram.

Argument |
Philip Obaji Jr.
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