British authorities have not issued a new visa to the Russian oligarch and Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich and it is not clear whether one will be granted, according to Russian media reports and people who know the businessman.

Abramovich, who is the 13^th richest man in Britain with a net worth of £9.3bn, according to the Sunday Times, held an entrepreneurial visa to the UK that expired several weeks ago. He has filed for a new visa, but has not yet been granted one.

He was not seen at Saturday’s FA Cup final at Wembley, which ended in a 1-0 victory for Chelsea over Manchester United.

A person who knows Abramovich said he had not been denied a visa, but that it was taking longer than usual to renew and it was unclear why.

A representative for Abramovich declined to comment on the reports, calling it a “personal matter”.

The delay was first reported by the Russian news agency the Bell, which wrote on Sunday that Abramovich’s visa had expired three weeks ago and that his private Boeing 767 last travelled to London on 1 April. The report cited three people who know Abramovich.

Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 and has helped bankroll the club during a period of unprecedented success, including five league titles.

Culled from the Guardian

Cameroon’s national day Sunday was marked by violence in its troubled English-speaking region, with two policemen killed, soldiers wounded and a mayor kidnapped by suspected armed separatists.

In the capital, Yaounde, in central Cameroon, President Paul Biya, who has ruled since 1982, presided over a public show of the country’s military might.

But in the English-speaking town of Bangem in southwest Cameroon, the mayor, Ekuh Simon, was kidnapped. In a video shared by suspected armed separatists Simon said he and his deputy were kidnapped by separatists for planning independence celebrations. He said he is being held hostage by the Ambazonia Restoration Forces that had said the national day should not be celebrated. Ambazonia is the name separatists have given to the English-speaking area they want to become independent from French-speaking Cameroon.

Fighting was also reported in the English-speaking towns of Konye, Batibo, Ekona and several villages of Kupe Muanenguba, an administrative area in southwestern Cameroon.

At least two policemen and several people were killed, according to the governor of the south west region Bernard Okalia Bilai. In the towns that were attacked, many escaped to the bushes and safer neighboring towns.

In the northwestern city of Bamenda, there was a strong show of force to prevent any violence, but only a few residents turned up for the celebrations, saying that they feared retaliation from the separatists. Some students at the University of Bamenda showed up for the parade, saying they were forced by officials to come under the penalty of expulsion. Government officials also said they were also forced to come.

The Cameroon government had asked the population to come out in numbers and celebrate the national day as a sign of national unity adding that the military will protect the people from armed separatists who had vowed the day will not be celebrated in the English-speaking regions.

Cameron again imposed a curfew on its English-speaking regions. In spite of the curfew and heavy presence of the military, the armed separatists were able to chase out some public officials and close some schools.

Both the government and separatists have committed abuses, according to the U.S. ambassador. Ambassador Peter Henry Barlerin last week met with Biya and urged the president to initiate dialogue to lead the way out of violence.

“On the side of the government, there have been targeted killings, detentions without access to legal support, family, or the Red Cross, and burning and looting of villages. On the side of the separatists, there have been murders of gendarmes, kidnapping of government officials, and burning of schools,” said Barlerin in a statement issued after he met with Biya. “People on both sides of the conflict have engaged in speech that dehumanizes the opposite side.”

International humanitarian organizations and rights groups have accused the government of harsh measures in its crackdown and the indiscriminate arrests of suspects.

Unrest in Cameroon began in November 2016, when English-speaking teachers and lawyers in the northwest and southwest regions took to the streets, calling for reforms and greater autonomy. They expressed frustration by the dominance of the French-speaking parts of the country and with what they charged is the marginalization of Cameroon’s Anglophone population. Cameroon’s English-speaking community accounts for about one-fifth of the country’s 25 million people.

The protests were followed by a harsh government crackdown, including arrests and a shutdown of the internet.

The crisis intensified when Ayuk Tabe, who declared himself the president of the English-speaking Republic of Ambazonia, was arrested in December with 48 others in Nigeria and extradited to Cameroon. They have not been seen in public since. The separatists are demanding his immediate release.

The separatists have chased many government workers and forced the closure of man schools, timber and palm oil processing factories. They vowed on social media to paralyze the country until they Ayuk Tabe and his colleagues are released.

Parts of southwest Cameroon remain under a curfew because the separatists continue to commit atrocities, said Bernard Okalia Bilai, governor of the Southwest Region

“The gunmen are hiding in the bushes, in the forests and usually they would appear on the roads to try to kidnap some passengers,” said Bilai. He said security information indicates most of the armed separatists are hiding in the bush along Cameroon’s southwestern border with Nigeria, especially in the Manyu and Lebialem administrative areas.

Source: News wpxi.com

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated President of the Republic of Cameroon Paul Biya.

“On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I congratulate you and the whole people of your country on the occasion of the national holiday of the Republic of Cameroon,” President Aliyev said.

“On this remarkable day, I extend my regards to you, and wish the friendly people of your country peace and progress,” the president added.

Source: azernews

The Southern Cameroons crisis that started as a simple strike by teachers and lawyers in October 2016 is gradually making the independence of the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon a certainty, especially as there are targeted killings and huge refugees movements in and out of the country.

Ever since the crisis started, the country’s president, Paul Biya, also known as the owner of the country, has refused to listen to many respectable people across the world. The Pope has had an opportunity to talk to Mr. Biya. Leaders of Western Countries have advised him to pursue dialogue as a sure means out of the impasse. The African Union has once offered to mediate.

The Francophonie, for its part, is still prepared to play a great role in efforts aimed at restoring peace to the country, but the country’s authorities are reluctant to accept all these offers of assistance and this is causing the situation to spiral out of control. Mr. Biya and his collaborators have clearly opted to pursue a path that is causing the country to lose its youthful population. They seem to be frozen in time and their strong faith in old ways is putting the country in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Across the country, some religious authorities have also called on the government to embrace dialogue in order to spare the country the agony it is going through. But all the wise counsel has fallen on deaf ears. Mr. Biya who is 85 years old is intent on destroying the country before he leaves this world. His total refusal of outside help to restore peace to the country is costing Cameroon a lot.

Cameroon, a once peaceful nation, has been gripped by the ‘dictator’s disease’; a disease that attacks African countries that have been ruled by sit-tight dictators. The Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and Somalia are some of the African countries that have been victims of this devastating disease.

Many African dictators always bequeath civil wars and political chaos to future generations when they leave power. In many cases, they leave power forcefully or through a civil war. Cameroon is on its way to joining this unfortunate club as Mr. Biya and his collaborators hold that the best way to address political issues is to unleash a reign of terror on the people they are supposed to govern and protect.

The Southern Cameroons crisis which could have been addressed through an inclusive dialogue has today become a civil war wherein government soldiers are shooting and killing many innocent civilians, as they cannot fully engage the Southern Cameroons fighters who are lurking in the jungles. The fighters, for their part, are using rudimentary weapons to protect themselves and this is adding to the chaos that has made life unbearable in the English-speaking regions.

The fighting is unfortunately consuming many young soldiers who have been pushed by the government to go and kill Southern Cameroonians whose initial objective was to put their grievances to the government. The government’s violent response caused the demands of Southern Cameroonians to mutate and, today, almost all Southern Cameroonians, even those in government, are in support of secession. Federalism, which was initially on the table, is being rejected by a majority of Southern Cameroonians who clearly hold that they can no longer share the same geo-political space with their French-speaking counterparts.

In many towns and villages in the two English-speaking regions, corpses of young innocent civilians are being discovered at roadsides and the government seems to be padding itself on the back for accomplishing such a feat. It is a really tough to know that government officials of Beti extraction are really celebrating when their fellow compatriots are being shot down point blank. It is even more baffling to know that the same authorities have kept on talking about one and indivisible Cameroon when their brutality is slowly dividing the country.

To defend themselves, many young Southern Cameroonians have taking to the jungle and many are now using whatever means that are available to them to fight a government they believe is intent on killing all the young men in the region. The fighting clearly indicates that Cameroon will never be the same again. Holding a country together clearly goes beyond political sloganeering and brinkmanship.

Yesterday, a young lady and her brother were killed in Etoko in Manyu Division when they ventured out to look for food. In many villages in the North West region, the story is the same. Four corpses were located on Saturday by civilians in AchiaTugui in the North West region. The corpses that have not yet been identified are suspected to be those of young men arrested somewhere else and killed military-style by government forces.

From every indication, the crisis has entered a very critical stage with the government holding that the more people it kills, the greater its chances of keeping the country one and indivisible. April has actually been a tough month. The government’s targeted killings increased in April, with even children being brought down by government bullets. The government has also adopted a scorch-earth policy which is resulting in whole villages being wiped off the country’s map. Army soldiers are relentlessly pursuing their scorch-earth policy. Houses are being burned and civilians are being tortured for crimes they have not committed.

But the indiscriminate killings and the decision not to call for an inclusive and broad-based dialogue seems to be Mr. Biya’s greatest undoing. The more Southern Cameroonians the army kills, the more fighters the movement acquires. This is putting the country’s  national unity on the rocks. Government actions are driving Southern Cameroonians away from the union that was hastily stitched by the United Nations.

Young Southern Cameroonians – both boys and girls – are voluntarily joining the struggle with the objective of granting independence to the people of Southern Cameroons. Many of these fighters have been unemployed for years and they strongly hold that their fate is worse than death.

They also hold that they may never live to see the independence of their land, but they are happy to trigger that movement that is already splitting Southern Cameroons from East Cameroon. The fighters argue that the government is doing everything to make the secession possible.

Speaking to our correspondent in Mamfe, a fighter who elected anonymity said that they were using different strategies to roll back the enemy. He stressed that all was fair in love and war, adding that the government had made a mistake to engage Southern Cameroonians in a battle that was not necessary.

“We are making sure the enemy feels the pain. The enemy has resorted to indiscriminate killings and this is hurting our people. We too are using all the means available to us to strike the enemy who is scared of dying. The young Beti soldiers who have been sent to come and destroy our cities and towns will pay a huge price. They have been killing our people as if they are animals. We will pay them in their own coins,” he said.

He added that “In Njeke, a small town close to Kembong, we deceived the enemy. We had a small party in Njeke where we killed a goat as part of the party. We cooked everything. We poisoned a whole pot and ate the part that was not poisoned. We sent someone to inform the hungry soldiers that we were partying. By the time they arrived the venue of our party, we had melted into the bushes. They seized a whole pot of goat meat. They also started feasting on it without suspecting anything. But that pot had poison in it. Today, some of them have already died and many are fighting for their lives. We will continue to delete them from the face of the earth using any means we know. The soldiers are hungry. Their masters in Yaounde cannot sustain them. The population is hostile to them and this has left them with lots of butterflies in their stomachs.”

A crisis that started as simple protests by lawyers, teachers and students in Buea and Bamenda is gradually splitting the country. Over the last six months, the protests have metamorphosed into a full blown armed conflict, as the government disregards all appeals from many across the globe for meaningful and inclusive dialogue.

The government is frozen in time and this gives it the impression that only an all-out military victory can bring peace to this once prosperous nation. It still believes that actions taken in the early years of the country’s independence to put an end to a bloody “Marquisard movement” could also work in the 21st Century.

But its failure to comprehend that times have changed and that other factors have come into play will keep it in the jungles and mountains of Southern Cameroons for a long time. The sixties and seventies were still part of the continent’s dark ages. Many people were not literate and poverty was a constant presence among the populace. The Bamilekes and Bassas who masterminded the independence struggle were still poor and had very few friends around the world.

Today, the world is a totally different place. Many people are educated. Education rates in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon stand at well over 80%. Besides, more than 50% of the region’s population lives out of the country and this makes it possible for the region to survive any government onslaught against those on the ground.

With more than 3 million English-speaking Cameroonians living out of the country, it is very possible for this large Diaspora to financially support those facing the government’s “scorch-earth” policy. The region’s Diaspora has been out of the country for more than 40 years and the majority of the region’s Diaspora lives in prosperous countries such as the USA, Canada and the UK where economic opportunities abound.

It is this Diaspora that is helping the pool of willing fighters back in Southern Cameroons to give the government a run for its money. Across the globe, there are monthly fund-raising efforts to ensure that those on the ground have access to the weapons they need to protect themselves against a government that has declared war against its own people.

Besides fund-raising efforts for arms, there are also fund-raising efforts to ensure that all those whose houses have been razed get rebuilt once the region secures its independence. Southern Cameroonians want to prove to the government that its brute force will only help them gain their independence sooner, rather than later.

Many people across the globe are already pointing out that the government’s reckless and irresponsible reaction to the crisis is already granting Southern Cameroons its independence, one day at a time. Some point to what happened to East Timor, also known as Timor Leste.

The Asian Island was also a victim of oppression from Indonesians for decades, but when the courageous people of Timor Leste decided it was time to walk away from the union, they challenged their oppressor and despite the intimidation and killings by Indonesians, East Timorese stood their ground. They knew that some people had to die for them to have a free and prosperous nation.

After many years of bloodshed, on August 30, 1999, a UN-sponsored referendum led to an overwhelming majority of East Timorese voting for independence from Indonesia. Immediately following the referendum, anti-independence Timorese militias — organized and supported by the Indonesian military — commenced a punitive scorched-earth campaign. The militias killed approximately 1,400 Timorese and forcibly pushed 300,000 people into West Timor as refugees. The majority of the country’s infrastructure was destroyed during this punitive attack.

On September 20, 1999, the International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) was deployed to the country and it brought the violence to an end. Following a United Nations-administered transition period, East Timor was internationally recognized as an independent nation on May 20, 2002.

This is exactly what might happen to Southern Cameroons as the government relentlessly pursues its diabolic campaign to destroy Southern Cameroons and to kill its people. The government of Cameroon has to take a hard and long look at its actions if it does not want to clone Indonesia’s mistakes.

But from every indication, the Cameroon government seems to be happily cloning the Indonesian example. It seems to be reading from a script produced by the Indonesian government. A script that has caused Indonesia to lose some of its best Islands that were noted for their tourism potential.

If the Cameroon government does not put an end to its military campaign, it will soon be losing Southern Cameroons. The Southern Cameroonian Diaspora is also willing to make this happen. “La République du Cameroun” has failed Southern Cameroonians and the brave and hardworking people of these English-speaking regions are willing to walk away from this hastily stitched marriage that was arranged by Foncha and Muna who only thought about their own interest.

There are even rumors that before long Southern Cameroonian fighters will soon be chasing Francophones out of Southern Cameroons in an attempt to bring the international community into the conflict. The world still has time to step in to prevent the chaos that is still being prepared in the jungles of Southern Cameroons.

The government’s arrogance and inefficiency are today costing the country huge amounts of money and the loss of human life is really disturbing. Both soldiers and civilian are being killed in a conflict that is unnecessary. The government’s decision to slaughter hundreds of Southern Cameroonians on October 1, 2017, has turned out to be an unfortunate error of judgement and its cost to the nation is incalculable.

The country’s fragile economy has been badly hit. Corporations such as CDC and Pamol that are located deep into Southern Cameroons’ heartland are struggling to stay afloat. Their businesses have been seriously affected, as Ambazonian fighters stage incursions in the region on a daily basis.

Falling oil production and prices have also hit the government like a ton of bricks. The Southern Cameroons crisis that the government thought would end after a few weeks is gradually robbing the country’s economy of its vitality. The country’s economic indicators are unfortunately trending very low and it is obvious that the days ahead will be bleak.

Today, the country is celebrating its 46^th reunification anniversary but the celebrations are only taking place in East Cameroon. In Southern Cameroons, the mindset is different. May 20, does not represent anything to many Southern Cameroonians. They are contesting the day and many cities and towns in Southern Cameroons are in total lockdown as Southern Cameroonian fighters have been threatening to kill anybody who participates in such a sham.

The government, for its part, has advised civilians to stay at home and anybody found on the streets will be arrested. And there have been many arrests in Buea and other towns in Southern Cameroons. However, it is clear that the event has been disrupted in many parts of Southern Cameroons.

The government is gradually losing Southern Cameroons. Its high-handedness is dividing the country. In a bid to keep the country one and indivisible through force, it is only succeeding to tear it apart. The government’s targeted killings have drawn criticism from many quarters and based on the chaos playing out in the country, the United States government is now calling on Mr. Biya to step down so as to give the country a chance to heal. His presence in power will only cause the country to split and this is no good news for many people.

Time is gradually running out. Changes are very necessary. The government has to abandon its legendary hypocrisy if it wants to keep Cameroon one and indivisible. Terrorizing its people and intimidating journalists will not keep Cameroon one and indivisible. It must seek to meet Southern Cameroonians halfway if it really wants to keep the country united. The ball is in its court. The world is watching the president. He has refused all useful advice and this will surely turn out to be his Achilles heels. As Americans have started to ask him to think of his legacy, he should know that his time is up. It will be better for him to quit on his own terms.

By Kingsley Betek 

A Cameroon Concord News Group Production

Cuban officials have announced that one of the black boxes of a plane that recently crashed in the country has been retrieved, offering hope to discover the reason behind the accident.

Cuba’s Transport Minister Adel Yzquierdo said on Saturday that authorities had retrieved one of the black boxes “in good condition” from the plane that crashed near Havana airport on Friday.

He said the official death toll had now risen to 110 people, including 11 foreigners.

The Boeing 737 passenger jet went down shortly after takeoff, killing all but three on board. Fifteen bodies have been identified so far.

The three women who survived the crash are said to be in critical condition with serious burns.

The incident was the Caribbean island’s deadliest air disaster in nearly 30 years.

The government announced two days of national mourning starting Saturday.

Allegations have begun to surface of previous safety complaints against the little-known Mexican company called Damojh that leased the nearly 40-year-old Boeing 737 to Cuban flagship carrier Cubana.

Cuban authorities said earlier that 99 of the fatalities were Cuban, while three were foreign tourists — two Argentinians and a Mexican — and two were Sahrawi residents in Cuba.

The crew of six were Mexican and were all killed.

Some locals who saw the crash say one of the engines appeared to have caught fire before the plane hit the ground.

Source: Presstv

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been declared husband and wife, following a ceremony at Windsor Castle.

The couple exchanged vows and rings before the Queen and 600 guests at St George’s Chapel.

Wearing a dress by British designer Clare Waight Keller, Ms Markle was met by Prince Charles, who walked her down the aisle.

Following their marriage, the couple will be known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Among the guests were Oprah Winfrey, George and Amal Clooney, David and Victoria Beckham and Sir Elton John.

Ms Markle had 10 bridesmaids and pageboys – including Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

She wore Queen Mary’s diamond bandeau tiara, loaned to her by the Queen.

Her sculpted white dress was designed by Ms Waight Keller for French fashion house Givenchy.

The look was completed with a veil measuring 5m and embroidered with the flowers of each country in the Commonwealth.

Prince Charles walked Ms Markle down the aisle, after her father, Thomas, was unable to attend for health reasons.

In her vows, Ms Markle did not promise to “obey” her husband, while the prince broke with royal tradition by choosing to wear a wedding ring.

Prince Harry’s ring is a platinum band with a textured finish and Ms Markle’s has been made from a piece of Welsh gold.

Lady Jane Fellowes, the sister of Prince Harry’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, gave a reading.

Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir performed Ben E King’s soul classic Stand By Me during the service.

As the bride and groom signed the register, 19-year-old cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason – who won the 2016 BBC’s Young Musician – performed three pieces – by Faure, Schubert and Maria Theresia von Paradis, with musicians from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Philharmonia.

The gospel choir also performed Etta James’ uplifting version of Amen/This Little Light of Mine as the newlyweds left the chapel.

The duke and duchess will travel through Windsor along a route lined by up to 100,000 well-wishers.

All 600 guests will then attend a lunchtime reception at St George’s Hall, which is being given by the Queen.

During this reception, Ms Markle will reportedly break with tradition for royal brides and make a speech.

Other celebrities in attendance included tennis star Serena Williams, TV personality James Corden, singer James Blunt, actor Carey Mulligan, and rugby star Jonny Wilkinson.

Prince Harry’s uncle, Earl Spencer, the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, and the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister Pippa Middleton, were also invited.

Politicians, including Prime Minister Theresa May, were not invited, as it is not a state event.

But the former Prime Minister, Sir John Major, is among the invited guests, as he is a member of the Order of the Garter.

About 1,200 members of the public – many who are recognised for their charity work – have been invited into the grounds of Windsor Castle for the wedding.

Culled from the BBC

Some 14,000 people have fled violence in the Central African Republic and crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo in less than a week, the United Nations said Friday.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was “alarmed” about the displacement of 7,000 people from the southeast of the strife-torn country, adding that they were arriving “into a situation of little help and desperate need”.

“The speed of arrivals and the very limited humanitarian presence in the area mean that people urgently need increased support,” said UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler, adding that most of the refugees were women and children.  He said the agencies capacity for an emergency response is “severely stretched”.

A further 7,000 refugees from the central CAR town of Bambari also poured into DRC, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Violence in Bambari on Monday and Tuesday night led to the deaths of a local NGO worker and midwife, and saw the town’s police station and UN bases attacked by armed men, presumed to be linked to the Union for Peace in CAR (UPC) group.

The UN said it had resumed control of the city on Wednesday. On Thursday a Mauritanian peacekeeper was killed and eight injured in an attack on a UN convoy near the southeastern town of Alindao.

The number of people from CAR fleeing to northern DRC had jumped even before the latest influx, the UN said, having risen from 102,000 to 182,000 in less than a year.

The UN has around 12,500 personnel deployed in Central Africa as part of its MINUSCA mission, one of the world body’s largest peacekeeping forces.

The state controls only a small part of CAR’s national territory. Armed groups clash in the provinces for control of resources, including diamonds, gold and livestock.

The violence has raised fears that the country, one of the most unstable in the world, could again plunge into a bloody sectarian conflict.

Source: AFP

The US ambassador to Cameroon on Friday accused government forces of carrying out “targeted killings” and other abuses in the fight against militants demanding independence for two English-speaking regions.

“On the side of the government, there have been targeted killings, detentions without access to legal support, family, or the Red Cross, and burning and looting of villages,” Ambassador Peter Barlerin said in a statement.

“On the side of the separatists,” he also stressed, “there have been murders of gendarmes, kidnapping of government officials, and burning of schools.”

The statement, which adds to warnings by rights watchdogs over abuses in the conflict, was issued after Barlerin met on Thursday with President Paul Biya.

The crisis began in 2016, when activists in the anglophone minority, about a fifth of the country’s population of 22 million, stepped up a campaign for greater autonomy.

Biya rejected their demands, prompting radicals to make a full-blown but symbolic declaration of independence last October 1 — the starting point for armed clashes and a crackdown.

Barlerin, in his statement, called on both sides “to stop the violence immediately.”

“I asked the President to use his leadership to encourage both sides to listen to each other,” he said. “One cannot have a dialogue until both sides are willing to listen to the other´s point of view.”

Many anglophones in the Northwest and Southwest regions complain of marginalisation in education, the judiciary and the economy and having French imposed on them.

The presence of a large English-speaking minority in the centre-west African state dates back to the colonial period.

It was once a German colony that after World War I was divided between Britain and France.

In 1960, the French colony gained independence, becoming Cameroon, and the following year, the British-ruled Southern Cameroons was amalgamated into it under a federal system.

Federalism was then scrapped 11 years later for a “united republic” — a centralised system that 85-year-old Biya, in power for more than 35 years, has said will not be changed.

According to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank, “at least 120” civilians and “at least 43” security forces have been killed since the end of 2016.

On Tuesday, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said around 160,000 people become internally displaced by the crisis and 20,000 had sought refuge in neighbouring Nigeria.

Source: AFP

A peacekeeper was killed and eight others were injured Thursday during an attack on a convoy in the Central African Republic, the UN’s MINUSCA force and the Mauritanian army said.

The ambush took place as a contingent of Mauritanian peacekeepers were escorting a logistical convoy between the towns of Kongbo and Alindao in the southern central part of the country, the UN said.

Five in the convoy sustained serious injuries, and the death raises to three the number of peacekeepers killed in the strife-torn country since the start of the year, it said.

In New York, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and sent his condolences to the family of the dead peacekeeper.

“Attacks against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime,” Guterres stressed, calling on Central African Republic authorities “to investigate… and swiftly bring those responsible to justice,” in comments relayed by a UN spokesman.

The UN has around 12,500 personnel deployed in Central Africa as part of its MINUSCA mission, one of the world body’s largest peacekeeping forces.

“Such blind violence is unacceptable. Why attack peacekeepers whose only reason for being on Central African soil is to help the country to escape the spiral of violence and help it return to lasting peace and security?” asked CAR’s UN special representative Parfait Onanga-Anyanga.

The violence has raised fears that the country, one of the most unstable in the world, could again plunge into a bloody sectarian conflict.

(Source: AFP)

Australia has joined the US, Britain and dozens of other nations in criticising Cameroon’s human rights record, as up to a dozen of the West African country’s Commonwealth Games athletes have not returned home.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton warned athletes overstaying their Games’ visas will be found and deported, although some have reportedly received bridging visas after claiming asylum.

Allegations of torture, arbitrary detention and attacks on civilians by security forces, suppression of freedom of speech and the media, and continued criminalisation of LGBTIQ+ people were raised against Cameroon at the United Nations.

The West African country created from merging French and British colonies is wracked by civil conflict between the Francophone majority and Anglophone minority, as well as incursions by terrorist group Boko Haram.

Over 160,000 people have been displaced by violence in Cameroon since 2016, according to UN estimates.

“Australia notes with concern the recent outbreak of violence between Cameroon security forces and protesting minority groups in the county’s southwest and northwest,” Australian diplomat Alexander Chapman told the UN’s Universal Periodic Review of human rights in Cameroon in Geneva.

“Australia recommends Cameroon lift unnecessary restrictions on freedom of assembly, investigate the alleged use of force in demonstrations, and ensure arrested protestors receive fair trials.”

Australia, which this year began its three-year term as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, echoed the United States in its statement to the UN hearing.

“We remain concerned by credible allegations of humans rights violations and abuses by security forces,” US diplomat Huda Ibrahim said.

“We recommend to the government the following, one acknowledge and investigate credible allegations of human rights violations and abuses and hold those to account.”

Other videos show troops burning villages and severely wounding people.

English-speaking southern Cameroonians have been demanding a separate state of Ambozonia based on colonial borders, claiming they are heavily discriminated against and marginalised by the French-speaking majority.

“There is peace in this region, it is not the entire region or the entire country that’s been involved in an uprising saying they want a republic,” Cameroon’s Foreign Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella told the UN review.

“It is a community that has taken the entire country hostage and raised awareness of the international community, sometimes wrongly, to what they call repressions in the Anglophone region.”

Mr Mbella Mbella told the UN its military had engaged in torture without government authorisation.

“One hundred and eight officials were brought to the courts for acts of torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment committed in the exercise of their functions and they were convicted,” he said, adding armed forces were being educated on complying with international treaty obligations to prevent crimes against humanity.

Soldiers carry the coffins of the four soldiers killed in the violence that erupted in the northwest and southwest Regions of Cameroon in 2017.

In the West African country’s far north, the military has for years been fighting terrorist group Boko Haram as well as the separatists.

“These elements have cut off heads, arms and feet. These are images we can see on the internet. These are atrocious images. No state can tolerate this state of affairs,” Mr Mbello Mbello said.

Earlier this week, British Minister of State for Africa Harriett Baldwin told parliament she visited Cameroon and the prime minister in February to express her concerns.

“It is a serious situation. There is violence from all sides in Cameroon and we are extremely concerned about the situation,” she said.

“We are encouraging not only the government there but all Cameroonians to participate in a process of inclusive dialogue. It is an election year and the election must take place without people resorting to violence.”

At least eight – possibly up to 11 – Cameroonians have not returned home from the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April and are expected to seek protection after their visas expired on Wednesday.

“It’s really helpful to see countries like Australia criticising the human rights situation in countries such as Cameroon,” said Sarah Dale, principal lawyer at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) in Sydney, which has been in contact with a number of the games athletes and officials.

“These are the exact kinds of reports that we use to demonstrate a person’s well-founded fear of persecution.”

 Australia has a tiny Anglophone Cameroon community numbering a few hundred. It welcomed the federal government’s statement at the UN.

“I was excited when I heard that Australia is interested,” said Gana Tetu, a southern Cameroon community leader in Canberra.

“The situation in southern Cameroon is horrific, there’s a lot of killing going on, everyday people are dying. Southern Cameroonians just want to restore their state.”

Mr Tetu said southern Cameroons refused to take part in the Commonwealth Games in protest at French Cameroonian athletes being eligible, saying only those from the former British colony should be allowed.

He opposes any French-speaking Cameroonian athletes or officials being given protection visas.

“If they’re granted those protection visas, then I’m pretty sure southern Cameroons in Australia will go on the street and protest,” he said.

The federal government’s Smartraveller website warns anyone travelling to Cameroon to “exercise a high degree of caution” and in the far north “we advise against all travel there due to the very high risk”.

About two dozen games athletes and officials including from Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana and Sierra Leone are still thought to be in Australia.

Home Affairs in a statement said it “will not be commenting on individual cases” and it has “stood up a dedicated operation to ensure those that should depart Australia do so.”

Source: www.sbs.com.au