Peace Corps Security Update

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The Peace Corps Country Director for Cameroon just sent us a security update that she got from the U.S. Embassy.  I thought it was actually a great analysis of the situation in the North and the Far North, so I thought I would share it here.  Apparently they are actually looking for sites to place people in the North from the September stage, so that’s good news.  Anyways, here is the report that she sent in its entirety.  Just as a point of reference, Maroua, the regional capital of the Far North, is about a 2-hour drive from my post, Guider.   

Summary:

Between July 15 and 19, U.S. Embassy staff travelled to Cameroon’s Far North Region to assess and discuss the influx of Nigerian refugees with local and traditional leaders. They met with approximately 250 refugees fleeing violence in Nigeria and interested in moving to a refugee camp. Government of the Republic of Cameroon (GRC) actions to secure the border, coupled with efforts from traditional rulers to control extremist rhetoric appear to be a bulwark against instability spreading from Nigeria into Cameroon. However, a devastated cross-border economy, mounting food prices, and the likelihood of ever more refugees entering Cameroon point to dim prospects for the region’s future. The Resident Representatives of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and UN High Commission for Refugees are concerned about food supplies and the potential for epidemics of yellow fever and cholera. Absent peace across the border in Nigeria, increased GRC investment in the region, or an economic miracle, the best the Far North can hope for is a managed decline that preserves the fragile stability of the status quo.

Tens of Thousands of Refugees

The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC) had pre-registered 3,323 refugees

as of July 18. 830 of them are located at the new camp at Minawao (roughly 70km from the border with Nigeria).The Cameroonian Government reports that it has identified 8,128 refugees, and local authorities from the GRC and traditional power structures have been ordered to perform another census.  However, based on anecdotal information and vaccination records from the Mayo Tsanaga area, we estimate that there are at least 20,000 Nigerians in Cameroon’s Far North, with new arrivals daily.

Embassy staff met with three groups of Nigerian refugees totaling roughly 250 individuals in the cities of Kolofata and Mora. Most of the refugees said they were fleeing violence in the Nigerian town of Bama (35km from the border with Cameroon) and were forced to leave immediately, fearing for their lives.  Refugees came from all walks of life, from former government workers to farmers to merchants. All said they felt safe in Cameroon, had no desire to return to Nigeria until the violence ceased, and were interested in relocation to a refugee camp. Most said that dwindling food supplies were their main concern, and many did not differentiate between Boko Haram and the Nigerian military when asked who they feared most in Nigeria.

The majority of Nigerian refugees in Cameroon are staying with host families, often of the same ethnic background, although some have rented lodging in Cameroon, while others sleep outdoors. Although the host family phenomenon is emblematic of Cameroonian hospitality, the refugees are clearly taxing the resources of local families to the limit. This is particularly acute because Cameroon is in its “hunger season,” when granaries are empty and staple crops cannot yet be harvested.

Food Prices Rise

According to various sources, food prices in the Far North are rising rapidly in response to instability in Nigeria and the influx of Nigerians into Cameroon. In Maroua, the price of a sack of rice increased from $40 to $80. In Kolofata, the price rose from $24 to $40. Food security had previously been undermined by the devastating floods that struck the region in the September and October 2012, which international aid groups previously estimated would reduce crop yields by 8% in 2013 (Ref B). 15% of households in the Far North were classified as malnourished by international aid organization in 2012.

Cross-Border Commerce Devastated

The Sultan of Mora commented that the border city of Limani was previously the second most lucrative border crossing for the Cameroonian customs agency (after the Port of Douala), but since the escalation of violence in Nigeria in late May, commerce has virtually ceased in Limani. Regional Urban Council Delegate Robert Bakari added that violence in Nigeria had essentially closed markets there to Cameroonian merchants, emptying market stalls in Cameroon of Nigerian manufactured goods, and forcing merchants in the Far North to import goods via the land route from Douala, significantly increasing transportation prices due to mismanagement at the Port of Douala and poor road conditions in the northern regions.  Cameroonian merchants selling goods in Nigeria, primarily foodstuffs, have similarly been unable to cross the border into Nigeria and are being forced to sell their goods at lower prices in Cameroon. Despite the dangers in Nigeria, smugglers were still observed ferrying gasoline across the border on motorcycles in Kolofata. However, we believe that smuggled Nigerian gasoline is less available and that has also contributed to inflation since official gasoline prices in

Cameroon are roughly 100 percent higher.

A Postcard from the Edge

Having spent 23 years working 15km from the Nigerian border at the Kolofata District Hospital, few know the Far North better than American Dr. Ellen Marie Einterz. She described a local population as uninterested in religious fanaticism as it is distrustful of any and all governments. Nights are punctuated by the sounds of distant gunfire and explosions, while days see ever growing numbers of patients with bullet and knife wounds arriving at the hospital which serves a population ranging from 120,000 to 200,000 (about half of which come from Nigeria). The market is shut down; prices are up; housing is becoming scarce; and the local people are torn between their desire to host their neighbors in need and the growing sense that the community simply cannot afford to be so hospitable. Dr. Einterz’s response to practicing medicine in now heavily guarded hospital with a government-mandated 24-7 personal security escort? “We’re not leaving. This is home.”