The head of the International Rescue Committee laments that, there’s a grave hole in international response to violence in Cameroon, rocked by Boko Haram in the Far North and a separatist conflict in the North West and South West regions. The former United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Miliband made the observation following a working visit to Cameroon and Chad, where he’s been looking at the humanitarian crisis sparked by the multiple insurgencies.
Miliband who spoke to The World’s host Marco Werman about what he saw in Cameroon while working with the agency said that the Boko Haram conflict has left untold misery in the affected communities. “They talked about utter desolation, about places that are now uninhabitable but also about a conflict that is growing and more people [are] fleeing,” Milliband says. “That speaks to the very difficult civilian, military and diplomatic situation in the north of Cameroon and in the neighboring countries around Lake Chad itself.”
As the situation escalates he fears that, things might get out hand if the response is not robust and immediate. “We know that they are becoming increasingly violent. We know that in some cases they are connecting up. Obviously, the International Rescue Committee is a humanitarian organization; we’re treating the symptoms of the crisis, not the roots of it, but we live within a political situation where you reach a point where there’s so much bloodshed that it becomes harder and harder to patch things together again. ”
Despite Government’s efforts and the role of the Multi national Joint Task Force in tackling the menace, the former UK Foreign chief regrets that, “there’s a grave hole in the international response — both at the humanitarian level and at the political-diplomatic level. “
On the Ambazonia separatist conflict in the North West and South West region, he said he was told by a colleague that, the conflict has grown in demands and scope. Hear him, “20 or 30 years ago, more power for the Anglophone region was the demand. Then the demand became federalism. Then the demand became separatism. You see that when needs are not met and when injustices are not tended to, there is radicalization and there’s an out-flanking. The great danger is that we reach a point of no return.”
Miliband believes that these two conflicts has greatly influenced the mass influx of Cameroonians into the US through Mexico seeking asylum, though many are stranded at the US -Mexico border. “What I would say is that those people have a right to have their asylum claims dealt with in an efficient and fair way. If you are in fear of your life in Cameroon, you should be because your families had been attacked by separatists or by the government, you need to have your case properly dealt with.”
The Trump Administration has however reduced the number of refugees from 90,000 to 22,000 which is frustrating many Cameroonians hoping to seek asylum. He has urged the US “to run a fair, efficient and humane asylum processing system. “
NEWSDAY CAMEROON 