Voices from the Civil Conflict in Cameroon

Violent conflict has disrupted life in the anglophone regions of Cameroon since 2016. Thousands of people have been killed, over half a million anglophone Cameroonians have been displaced, distressing images of human rights abuses have emerged, children no longer attend school, and market and farm life have stopped. In this illuminating talk, Barrister Caroline Mbinkar will explain the context behind the Cameroon conflict and its causes linking back to the nature of decolonisation by the UK and France in the 1960s. Following this, Barrister Mbinkar will outline some of the key complexities about the current situation that challenge the prospect of a sustainable peace, including corruption, greed, incompatible institutions and mistrust, but these are themes that are generally defined by elite actors. Drawing on these opinions together with results from interviews conducted in February 2020 with marginalised anglophone Cameroonian actors who would not usually be able to contribute to a study of the conflict, Barrister Mbinkar will outline the key challenges to a sustainable peace.