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CameroonSeparatists Attacking 'Poison' Aid Convoys

Moki Edwin Kindzeka

   Humanitarian aid workers in Cameroon say they are scared after several
   consignments of aid meant for people in the country's troubled
   English-speaking regions were attacked and burned by suspected
   separatists.

   The rebels are suspicious of the aid convoys' military escorts and say
   they will never accept any assistance brought in by the military.
   Thegovernment of Cameroon insists the military is only escorting the
   convoys to protect aid workers.

   However, clashes between the mostly French-speaking government forces
   and armed separatists have occurred regularly since 2017, when a
   secessionist movement turned violent. The government cracked down on
   protests by English-speaking educators and attorneys in the northwest
   and southwest, where residents have complained about
   receivingsecond-class treatment from Cameroon's French-speaking
   majority.

   1,800 deaths

   The United Nations says at least 1,800 people have been killed and more
   than half a million displacedin the two years since fighting began.

   In a social media video, one of at least seven such videos that have
   circulated online in the past week, fighters armed with guns and
   machetes can be seen setting fire to shipments of food, bedding and
   medicine.Cameroonian rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks.

   In one video, the attackers say they will never allow what they call
   "poisoned" humanitarian aid from Cameroon's President Paul Biya.

   ChristianEselekweTanyi, who is with the Martin Luther Jr. King Memorial
   Foundation-Cameroon, one of the aid groups whose shipments were
   destroyed, said, "More and more, we see humanitarian actors being
   attacked or being threatened, or misrepresented as either working
   against the state or working with the state. They work to relieve the
   suffering of the population. They do not side with any party to the
   conflict. They respect at all times the principles of neutrality and
   impartiality."

   NforPeter SheyofCameroon Rights Watchsaidthe attacks on aid workers
   increased after April 14,when the government sent 55 truckloads of
   assistance with a military escort and troops to distribute it.

   "When you look at the atrocities that are being meted out to the
   population in these areas, the military is the prime suspect," Shey
   said. "The burning of the houses, they say, is the handiwork of the
   military. Many people in these areas believe the government is not
   doing enough to call for dialogue, which people think can be a headway
   to solving this problem."

   PaulAtangaNji,Cameroon's territorial administration minister, saidthe
   military wouldcontinue to protect aid convoys and the population.

   "The president of the republic instructed us to intensify the
   distribution of humanitarian aid, to put in place mechanisms so that
   the locally affected populations can put in place strategies to be
   self-reliant,"Njisaid.

   Butit's not onlyCameroon's military that is being attacked.Last week,
   the government said rebels killed four policemen and wounded six others
   who were transporting aid to the southwestern town ofEyumojock.

   Huge losses

   Aid workers could not confirm the number of recent attacks or quantity
   of items destroyedbut said the losses were huge and wouldonly bring
   more suffering to the English-speaking population.

   Teacher ValentineMuluhinYaoundesaidhis 76-year old father in the
   northwest town of Kom relies on medical aid to treat his diabetes. The
   recent attacks on aid convoys have prevented his father from getting
   treatment, he said.

   "We are actually very worried because his diabetes is at an acute
   stage,"Muluhsaid. "We have not been able to get his treatment for two
   weeks,and the nurses say his situation is getting very preoccupying."

   Cameroon authorities have accused international aid groups of
   exaggerating the conflict in the English-speaking regions. The
   government saidtherewere 152,000 internally displacedpersonsin the
   regions and that two-thirdswere receiving aid.

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