Doctors Without Borders (DWB) announced on Tuesday 05 April 2022, the suspension of its humanitarian activities in an English speaking area of Cameroon. This decision came after the arrest and detention of four of its local employees on charges of “complicity” with rebels.
The international relief NGO is halting its operations in south-west Cameroon, an area plagued by separatist conflict. “DWB has officially announced today the suspension of its humanitarian activities in the South West region of Cameroon three months after the arrest and detention of four of its staff members in connection with the organisation’s medical work,” writes the NGO in a statement. The detained employees are all Cameroonian. These include a 33-year-old nurse and a 41-year-old driver. Indeed, the organisation stressed that it had ceased its activities since the 29 March, in order to focus on securing the safe release of its staff. According to head of Communications for Central and West Africa for DWB, this is the first time the NGO has publicly mentioned these arrests.
A priesthood at great risk in this region of Cameroon
The mission of this NGO is sometimes difficult to accomplish. You have to strive to save lives and at the same time fight for your own survival. The head of DWB’s programmes in Central Africa, Sylvain Groulx, quoted in the press release, explains: ” We are in an unsustainable position: on the one hand, we are providing needed medical assistance; on the other hand, the people providing this assistance are at risk of being prosecuted for their medical activities. We need the preconditions in place to enable us to operate in a safe and secure environment so that we can fulfil our obligations to patients”. These employees are detained in the South West capital of Buea for “investigation of complicity in secessionism”.
The reaction of the Cameroonian government is expected
The Cameroonian government has not yet decided whether to suspend DWB operations. In addition, at the end of 2020, he had already stopped the activities of the NGO in the second English-speaking region of the country in the North-West, accusing the medical team of “collusion” and “complicity” with the armed separatist groups. In these two regions, where most of the English-speaking minority lives in a predominantly French-speaking country ruled for nearly 40 years by Paul Biya, the army and separatist groups have been clashing almost daily for five years. Many civilians are victims of abuse according to DWB and the UN. These conflicts have reportedly left more than 6,000 dead and forced more than a million people to flee their homes. Doctors Without Borders, in order to continue to assist the victims of the clashes, remains open to dialogue with the Cameroonian authorities with a view to resuming its activities.
