Persecuted just for speaking ENGLISH: Southern Cameroonians FIGHTING BACK ⁰

The unrest in Cameroon began in November, when English-speaking teachers and lawyers in the north-west and south-west regions of Cameroon, frustrated with having to work in French, took to the streets calling for reforms and greater autonomy.

French is the official language for most of Cameroon but English is spoken in two regions that border Nigeria.

Protests by separatists prompted a violent crackdown by Cameroon’s military last year in which troops opened fire on demonstrators. There are currently six rebel groups in the forest fighting against Government’s troops.

But Cameroon President Paul Biya has so far ignored the protests. An anonymous independence activist told Deutsche Welle: “It is the only option because the people believe it is through these means that they can force the President into dialogue. “What Ambazonians are doing now is simply defending themselves, they did not start the violence.”

Dozens of people have been killed and many more injured in clashes following the region’s symbolic declaration of independence on October 1, 2017, which sparked a crackdown by the government.

Some leaders in the movement for independence have been forced to take refuge in neighbouring country Nigeria. Last November, the self-declared president of the republic Sisiku Ayuk Tabe Julius said that “all options are on the table” in the region’s bid for independence.

He said: “We are going to separate. We are going to restore our independence. “We are going to disclose the terms of that separation and then we will build a wonderful nation.” He has since been detained in Yaounde, Cameroon.