Disputed Borders: 10 Southern Cameroons Facts

Disputed Borders Southern Cameroons

Southern Cameroons was the southern part of the British mandate territory of British Cameroons in West Africa. Since 1961 it has been part of the Republic of Cameroon, where it makes up the Northwest Region and Southwest Region.

Disputed Borders About Southern Cameroons Facts

  • Since 1994, pressure groups in the territory claim there was no Treaty of Union in accordance to UNGA RES 1608(XV) paragraph 5, and are seeking to restore statehood and independence from the Republic of Cameroon. They renamed British Southern Cameroons as Ambazonia, from Ambas Bay.
  • Amnesty International has accused the Cameroun authorities of human right violations against South Cameroons activists.
  • Referendums were held in 1959 and 1961 in the Cameroons to determine union with Nigeria or Cameroun. In 1961, Northern Cameroons voted for union with Nigeria and Southern Cameroons for union with (the formerly French) Cameroun.
  • The Southern Cameroonians felt further marginalised. Groups such as the Cameroon Anglophone Movement (CAM) demanded greater autonomy, or independence, for the provinces.
  • In 2017, an assemblage of the various Ambazonian separatist administrations, some of whom hold de facto control over the interior salient of their claimed territory,[3] called the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front (SCACUF) declared Ambazonia to be an independent nation, while the Cameroonian government stated that the declaration has no legal weight.
  • The term “Ambazonia” is derived from the word Ambozes, the local name for the bay area at the mouth of the Wouri (now Douala) river. The name was first coined by Fon Gorji Dinka in 1984.
  • Southern Cameroons, since then renamed to Ambazonia, is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) since 2005 and a charter member of the Organization of Emerging African States (OEAS).
  • On November 30, 2017, the President of Cameroon declared war on the Anglophone separatists. This marked the start of a very violent confrontation between Government forces and armed separatist. The conflict started in Manyu Division where the Ambazona Defense Force operated. From there conflict has spread to other counties like Lebialem, Fako, Momo, Bui, Ngoketunjia. Several different armed factions have emerged such as the Red Dragons, Tigers, ARA, Seven Kata, ABL amongst others. Several Villages and towns have been burned down such as Kwa-Kwa, Kembong, Tadu in NSO and Muyenge.
  • On 26 August 2019, an appeal was put forth by ten Ambazonian leaders, including Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, to end their sentence after being convicted in a military court. They had been sentenced to life in prison on charges of terrorism, secession, along with a fine of 350 million dollars
  • In March 2020, a one-armed group called a ceasefire with Cameroon due to concern relating to the Coronavirus. However, the war continued.
Disputed Borders Southern Cameroons
Disputed Borders Southern Cameroons