BY TRACY NGWE
Tension is mounting within families of thousands as security operatives have engaged in the arrest and detention of those who are reported to have been deported from the various countries they fled to for safety and protection, taking into consideration that their respect for Human Rights is prime, when the armed conflict in the North West and South West Region reached its apex.
It should be recalled that these innocent Anglophones fled the country when security and defence forces declared them wanted by for allegedly siding with separatist fighters.
Prosecution, extrajudicial killings, molestation and torture awaits them anytime they return to Cameroon, especially those Cameroonians in the US, and Europe, who risk deportation, will face prosecution and even death.
Reports from Kumba, South West Region say the family of Butike Joel Tasemih is currently in tears and worried about the fate of their brother, who was arrested in Cameroon by security and defence forces upon arrival from Cyprus on March 3, 2025 following his deportation.
According to sources, Butike Joel, who escaped from the country in 2018 amidst the armed conflict in the two English-speaking regions of the North West and South West to Cyprus, was unfortunately arrested by the authorities in Cyprus on January 21, 2025 as an illegal immigrant. Before his arrest, Butike had a fiancé, Raissa Kwingvenu, with whom he lived for three years and had two children, Butike David Ethan Fanyui and Butike Brielle Edna, all minors.
As we went to press the family members of Butike Joel Tasemih had been placed under security searchlight with his fiancé, Raissa Kwingvenu and children, who are still in Cyprus highly targeted by the Cameroon security and defence forces anytime they are found in Cameroon.
If they return home, they will, like many other innocent youths, just like Butike Joel Tasemih, be tried in the military tribunal under the 2014 anti-terrorism law, whose maximum punishment is the death sentence
In the meantime, as the crisis rages on, the government, with the use of the military, has stepped up its crackdown on those suspected to be supporting and siding with the Ambazonia separatist fighters and others who are sympathisers to the Anglophone cause for the restoration of the independence of the Former British Southern Cameroons.
Government forces have engaged in extrajudicial killings, random looting, shooting, torture, molestation using disproportionate and discriminating force. The defence and security forces have also been accused of abusing and arresting protesters, burning more than 300 villages, 600 houses, displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians, attacking hospitals, beating and raping women and girls.
The inhumane treatment meted innocent civilians amidst the crisis is alarming and the international bodies have been called upon to intervene and mount pressure on the government to solve the situation and assist all those who have escaped the armed conflict.