A story that started with linguistic marginalisation, then mass displacement, and international silence
KYIV. GAZA. KHARTOUM. These names dominate global media headlines, triggering emergency UN sessions, widespread media coverage, and billions in humanitarian aid. However, in the hills of Northwest Cameroon, where English once echoed in courtrooms and classrooms, the silence is too loud. No flood of foreign journalists. No urgent Security Council debates. No trending social media hashtags.
Still the devastation is staggering: over 6,000 civilians killed, 1.2 million displaced out of a population of approx. 5.6 million, and 855,000 children out of school. This toll is only from what is documented of Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis. A conflict that started with peaceful protests in 2016 and has evolved into one of Africa’s most protracted and ignored humanitarian catastrophes.
“Cameroon’s Anglophone regions are burning, yet the world watches in silence,” says Ida Sawyer, senior crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. “If this conflict were anywhere else, we would be seeing a very different global response.”
“There’s a clear double standard at play,” adds Njei Check, a Cameroon-based human rights lawyer. “When people are killed in Ukraine or Gaza, the world reacts. In Cameroon, the international community looks away.”
Unlike the Ukraine, Gaza, or Sudan’s civil war, Cameroon’s English-speaking regions have suffered in near-total blackout, caught between government forces and armed separatists, with civilians paying the ultimate price.
What’s unfolding in Cameroon is not just a war, it’s a war with no witnesses.
How Linguistic Injustice Sparked a War
No shot was fired at the beginning, only a procession with placards to express grievances. In 2016, lawyers and teachers in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, the Northwest and Southwest, took to the streets. Their demands: respect for their linguistic rights, fair representation in government, and an end to decades of marginalisation by the French-speaking majority.
What started as peaceful protests for linguistic equality transformed into something far more devastating. The government’s heavy-handed response, including internet shutdowns and mass arrests, only deepened the divide. By 2017, armed separatist groups had emerged, calling for the independence of “Ambazonia”, their name for the Anglophone regions.
Anglophones, who make up about 20% of Cameroon’s population, found themselves caught between government forces and separatist fighters, both of whom have been accused of serious human rights violations.
Abductions, Killings, and the Cost of Speaking English
The human cost of this conflict is written in the testimonies of those who have lived through it. On February 5, 2023, Honourine Wainachi Nentoh, a member of parliament representing the crisis-affected regions, was abducted, a reminder that no one is safe in this conflict. She was released days later, but her ordeal symbolises the fear that grips the region.
In May 2023, exactly three months later, over 30 women were kidnapped from a village in the Northwest region. Some were tortured before being released. These are not isolated incidents but part of a pattern of violence that has torn communities apart.
The crisis reached another horrific level on July 16-17, 2023, when at least 10 civilians were killed in Bamenda, the regional capital of the Northwest. The attack, allegedly carried out by separatists, demonstrated how the conflict has spiralled beyond any semblance of political discourse into pure violence.
Even the simple act of education has become a battleground. On September 7, 2023, as schools attempted to reopen after years of closures, violence that followed left at least three civilians dead in the Southwest region. Vehicles were set ablaze, and the message was clear; the separatists’ school boycott would be enforced through violence.
A Crisis Beyond the Anglophone Regions
While Anglophones bear the brunt of the violence, the crisis has sent shockwaves throughout Cameroon. The frequent closure of the border with Nigeria has paralysed trade routes that Francophone regions depend on. The Littoral and West regions, predominantly French-speaking, have struggled with the economic disruption and the burden of hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced persons.
Social tensions have deepened as well. The term “Anglofools”, a derogatory reference to English speakers, has entered common parlance among some Francophones, reflecting the poisonous atmosphere the conflict has created. The unity that Cameroon once prided itself on has fractured along linguistic lines.
More than 77,000 displaced Cameroonians, now live in Nigeria as refugees, while hundreds of thousands more remain internally displaced within their own country. The strain on resources and infrastructure affects everyone, regardless of the language they speak.
Global Silence, Local Suffering
Exploring the West’s reluctance to intervene—especially France’s muted stance.
Despite the escalating violence, international condemnation has remained faint. Nowhere is this more evident than in the actions or inactions of France, Cameroon’s former colonial power and longtime ally of President Paul Biya’s regime.
France, which governed Francophone Cameroon under a UN trusteeship after World War II, has maintained close economic and military ties with Yaoundé since independence. French companies dominate critical sectors of Cameroon’s economy, from oil to banking, while French military advisors and arms sales have quietly continued even as the crisis intensified.
In 2020, France publicly condemned human rights violations in the Anglophone regions but stopped short of applying any serious diplomatic pressure or sanctions. Observers say this reflects a familiar pattern: protecting geopolitical interests over human rights. Paris has prioritized stability and continuity over accountability, especially given Biya’s role in counterterrorism efforts against Boko Haram in the Far North.
This muted posture has not gone unnoticed by Anglophone communities, who see France’s silence as implicit approval of the repression they face. Many activists now view Paris as complicit, not just passive, arguing that historical patterns of Francophone favouritism still echo through Cameroon’s present-day power structure.
Cameroon’s Lost Generation
One of the most tragic consequences of this crisis is its impact on children. Over 855,000 children were out of school as of 2019, with 2,245 schools closed due to violence, threats, or occupation by armed groups. Separatist factions continue to enforce school boycotts, often by burning classrooms and threatening teachers who defy their orders.
An entire generation of Anglophone children is growing up without formal education, their futures sacrificed to a conflict they did not choose.
“It was the sound of death and I really thought I wouldn’t make it. I prayed silently for a miracle.”
— Jane Ndamei, 15, who fled her school during gunfire in the Southwest region during her Grade 12 exams in 2019.
“You see 11-year-olds, 12-year-olds sitting in the house, and before you know it, they are pregnant, their futures are shattered.”
Jane was one of the lucky ones, she eventually relocated to Yaoundé to continue her education. But thousands of her peers remain trapped, either displaced, out of school, or forced into early marriage or economic survival.
Teachers, too, have fled. In many conflict-affected areas, school buildings stand abandoned and overgrown.
According to Human Rights Watch:
“The attacks on education have TRAUMATISED teachers and pupils alike, intimidated parents into keeping their children out of school, and deprived an estimated 700,000 students of their education.”
This educational paralysis threatens not just individual futures but the region’s long-term development. Without urgent international intervention, the Anglophone regions risk becoming home to a lost generation, one denied knowledge, stability, and hope.
When Conflict and Natural Disaster Collide
Civil societies and humanitarian agencies have classified the Anglophone Crisis as a “Complex Disaster Emergency.” The situation is so fragile that even natural disasters, such as a potential eruption of Mount Cameroon, an active volcano in the Southwest region, could dramatically worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
As of 2022, at least 2.2 million people needed humanitarian assistance. Food insecurity is widespread, healthcare access is limited, and cholera outbreaks have occurred in affected areas. The infrastructure of daily life has collapsed in many regions.
We Just Want Peace”: Lives Shattered by War
Beyond the statistics are the voices of ordinary people whose lives have been shattered. A village raid on Kekukesim on August 11, 2023, killed at least four civilians, including the village chairperson, and left homes in ashes. Residents who survived describe the terror of not knowing when violence might next strike their community.
Families have been torn apart by displacement. Parents send their children to safer regions, sometimes never to see them again. Young people who should be in universities find themselves in refugee camps instead. Elderly residents who have lived their entire lives in Anglophone regions now find themselves strangers in Francophone areas where they struggle with language barriers and cultural differences.
The psychological toll is immense. Constant fear, loss of livelihoods, and the breakdown of social structures have created a population traumatised by years of conflict. Mental health services are virtually non-existent in many affected areas.
Dialogue, Decentralisation, and Dead Ends
The 2019 National Dialogue convened by President Paul Biya offered hope for a peaceful resolution, but its outcomes satisfied few. Many Anglophone leaders dismissed it as inadequate, while the root causes of the crisis, linguistic marginalisation and political exclusion, remained largely unaddressed.
Civil society organisations continue to call for meaningful dialogue that includes all stakeholders, including moderate separatist voices. They argue that only through inclusive conversations about federalism, decentralisation, and linguistic rights can Cameroon find a path to peace.
International mediation efforts have been limited, with regional bodies like the African Union taking a backseat to bilateral diplomatic efforts that have yet to yield results.
Why the World’s Apathy Matters
France’s historical fingerprints and the cost of strategic indifference.
The legacy of France’s post-colonial influence casts a long shadow over Cameroon’s internal conflicts. While the global community often cites sovereignty and complexity as reasons for inaction, critics point to France’s outsized role in shaping—and sustaining—the very state structures that now marginalise Anglophones.
France’s continued military cooperation and failure to support independent international investigations signal a strategic indifference that prioritises diplomatic loyalty over civilian protection. In contrast to its proactive stance in crises like Mali or Chad, Paris has refrained from calling for a special UN rapporteur, an arms embargo, or even targeted sanctions against Cameroonian officials.
This selective diplomacy reinforces a perception that Anglophone lives are geopolitically expendable. Without meaningful international pressure—especially from France—the prospects for justice and resolution remain dim. In the eyes of many displaced Cameroonians, France’s silence is not neutrality, but a choice with real and deadly consequences.
2025: Still No End in Sight
As of June 2025, the Anglophone Crisis shows no signs of resolution. Violence continues to claim civilian lives, displacement figures continue to rise, and an entire generation of children remains out of school. The humanitarian situation deteriorates while the world’s attention remains focused elsewhere.
The crisis that began with lawyers and teachers seeking linguistic rights has evolved into a complex conflict that threatens the very fabric of Cameroon’s national unity. What started as protests for inclusion has become a war of exclusion, with tragic consequences for all Cameroonians.
Cameroon’s Anglophones Are Still Waiting to Be Heard
The voices from Cameroon’s conflict regions speak with one unified message: they need the world to listen. The crisis may be forgotten by international media, but it remains devastatingly real for the millions affected by it.
The Anglophone Crisis represents more than a local conflict—it is a test of the international community’s commitment to linguistic rights, minority protection, and conflict prevention. The world’s response, or lack thereof, will be remembered by future generations of Cameroonians who deserved better from both their government and the global community.
In the empty schools of the Northwest and Southwest regions, in the refugee camps of Nigeria, and in the displacement centres throughout Cameroon, people continue to hope that their voices will finally be heard. Their stories of suffering demand not just sympathy, but action.
The question that remains is whether the world will continue to look away from this forgotten war, or finally acknowledge the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the heart of Central Africa. For the 1.2 million displaced persons, the 855,000 children out of school, and the families of the 6,000 civilians killed, the answer to that question cannot wait much longer.
This story is based on documented evidence and testimonies from humanitarian organisations, civil society groups, and media reports covering the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon. The human cost detailed here represents verified incidents and statistics from credible sources documenting this ongoing conflict.
