The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Cameroon: UN office strongly condemns attacks on aid workers
Harassment, attacks, abductions and extortions of aid workers are dramatically on the rise in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The situation has reached a point where aid delivery has had to be scaled back, putting many lives at unnecessary risk.
“Over the past two months we have seen a significant increase in attacks with six aid agencies reporting having had their workers kidnapped or illegally detained in live-threatening incidents” said Jens Larke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) speaking today to a virtual press conference at the United Nations in Geneva.
He added that “there is an increasing widespread practice by non-state armed groups of setting up illegal checkpoints along the main supply routes and abducting aid workers”.
All staff involved in these incidents have been released, but they are traumatised because of the death threats they received during the abduction.
These constraints have strongly impacted the work of humanitarian organisations with consequences for the people they serve.
The situation in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, which started as a political crisis, has been marked by violent clashes and has led to a complex humanitarian emergency with 1.7 million people in need in the region.
Quoting Cameroon’s humanitarian coordinator Allegra Baiocchi, the OCHA spokesperson said that “the increase of attacks is very troubling as it comes at a time where efforts are actually focused in scaling up in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
He added that “the Humanitarian Coordinator has reiterated the UN Secretary-Generals call for a global ceasefire to also apply in Cameroon”.
Aid workers and the assistance they provide to the most vulnerable populations can make the difference between life and death for entire communities in this part of Cameroon, OCHA says. In this context, the kidnapping of aid workers has a devastating effect on life-saving aid.
“Motives for these kidnappings are mostly predatory - kidnapping for ransom or theft”, Laerke said. “Armed elements have also enforced so called ‘ghost towns’ which is days where they prohibit people from venturing out, they have used improvised explosive devices in populated areas and closed transport routes between cities for several days”.
Cameroon security forces have also reportedly delayed the movement of humanitarian cargo.
“There is also an issue with the regular armed forces there, the Cameroonian armed forces, which have withheld and stopped trucks particularly with aid. They are having some reports of them detaining protective equipment that was to be used for humanitarian workers”.
According to OCHA; 450,000 of the 1,7 million people in need are displaced, 600,000 have already fled the violence to other parts of the country. A total of 2.3 million people in Cameroon need food, shelter, non-food items and protection as a result of the crisis.
1. Wide shot: exterior, UN Geneva flag alley.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) – Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Over the past two months we have seen a significant increase in attacks with 6 aid agencies reporting having had their workers kidnapped or illegally detained in live-threatening incidents”.
3. Medium shot: Flag alley in front of UN Geneva building
4. SOUNDBITE (EN) - Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “There is an increasing widespread practice by non-state armed groups of setting up illegal checkpoints along the main supply routes and abducting aid workers”.
5. Close up: UN flag
6. SOUNDBITE (EN) – Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “The increase of attacks is very troubling as it comes at a time where efforts are actually focused in scaling up in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The Humanitarian Coordinator has reiterated the UN Secretary-Generals call for a global ceasefire to also apply in Cameroon”.
7. Medium shot: UN Geneva Palais des Nations
- SOUNDBITE (EN) – Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Motives for these kidnappings are mostly predatory - kidnapping for ransom or theft. Armed elements have also enforced so called ‘ghost towns’ which is days where they prohibit people from venturing out, they have used improvised explosive devices in populated areas and closed transport routes between cities for several days”.
9. Wide shot: UN flag alley
- SOUNDBITE (EN) – Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “There is also an issue with the regular armed forces there, the Cameroonian armed forces, which have withheld and stopped trucks particularly with aid. They are having some reports of them detaining protective equipment that was to be used for humanitarian workers”.
11. Wide shot: UN flag, in background ICRC building
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The appointment on Thursday of Karla Quintana as head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic is a key development after nearly a year and a half of work by the UN Human Rights Office supporting the institution’s launch.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO
The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.
1
1
1
Edited News | IIIM , UNHCR
Syria: ‘Key priority’ is to preserve evidence of crimes – UN investigators
In Syria, new access to evidence of horrific human rights violations means that accountability may be closer than ever – if only proof can be preserved, a top UN investigator said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OSE , ICRC , UNHCR
Syria: UN and partners urge action to preserve evidence of prison atrocities, stabilize country
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria five days ago, hundreds of people have rushed to Saydnaya prison, desperate to find loved ones. Disturbing images from the prison and other detention centers have since surfaced, exposing the “unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured for years,” said Jenifer Fenton, spokesperson for the UN special envoy for Syria, on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: “Sickening normalisation” of suffering, amid attacks on people and aid convoys
Ongoing military operations by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza continue to devastate Palestinian children and families, with mounting casualties and a critical lack of humanitarian aid for the desperate population.
“Local media reporting here that last night, 30 people were killed in this area in strikes” said a senior emergency officer with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Louise Wateridge, speaking to reporters in Geneva from central Gaza.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Rights experts call for end to impunity for Israel’s violations of international law
Four independent human rights experts have jointly called for the international community to sanction Israel’s conduct of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as in the wider Middle East region - including in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. They also called for the restoration of trust in the international justice system through the abandonment of “extreme interpretations” and “double standards” in the application of the universal norms regulating the conduct of war.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR
Syria: needs continue to grow amid highly uncertain situation, say aid teams
The historic power shift in Syria and the still volatile situation two days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime have increased humanitarian needs in a country where nearly 17 million people, including millions of internally displaced, already depended on humanitarian aid before the recent events, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.
2
1
3
Edited News , Press Conferences | OSES
Barely 48 hours since opposition forces including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept into Damascus and forced out President Bashar al-Assad, the top UN negotiator tasked with helping Syrians’ create a peaceful and democratic future insisted that nothing could be taken for granted.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday called on States to do all in their power to end senseless conflicts and suffering.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
No evacuation order given before Kamal Adwan Hospital strike, says WHO
One of the last partially functional health centres in northern Gaza was reportedly hit again overnight into Friday by several strikes, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has called on the Georgian authorities to respect and protect the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly following several nights of protests that were marred by violence, and dispersed using disproportionate, and in some cases unnecessary, force by the police in the capital, Tbilisi.