At this Africa Lunch Meeting, Hans de Marie Heungoup, analyst with the International Crisis Group, discussed the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon. Representing 20% of Cameroon’s 24 million population, Anglophones have felt marginalised in the country. These frustrations have come to the fore since late 2016, when corporatist demands transformed into political demands. Since then, the two Anglophone regions (the Northwest and the Southwest) have seen heavy-handed responses by the security forces, “ghost town” protest actions, the closure of schools, and sporadic outbreaks of violence. The situation has deteriorated significantly since August 2017, and certainly since the 1st October, with the symbolic proclamation of the independent state of Ambazonia by secessionist militants. The speaker discussed the roots of the Anglophone crisis, the drivers of its recent escalation, the role of the diaspora, and possible pathways for a sustainable resolution of the crisis.

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