Anglophone Crisis: Thousands of Children Exposed to Mental Health

Attacks on schools and continued violence by armed groups in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon have been singled out as one of the major causes in the rise of mental health of the population, particularly children residing in these regions.

Depression, schizophrenia, feelings of isolation are some of the traumas affecting the mental health of the Cameroonian population living in the northwest and southwest regions of the country. These individuals are often forced to flee from village to village, seeking shelter from the relentless attacks and constant threats from the armed groups present in the area.

Since September 2017, the civilian population of the southwestern region of Cameroon has been trapped in the ongoing confrontation among the different non-state armed groups fighting for hegemony over the territory, and the government forces trying to maintain political control of the area.

According to data from the Ministry of Administration of the Territory (MINAT) of Cameroon, there were 130,000 internally displaced people in the northwest region, 90,000 in the southwest region and 105,000 returnees, as of 2021.

The civilian population is in the midst of a years-long conflict which produces repeated human rights violations perpetrated by all parties, including physical violence, child abuse, child marriage, rape, death threats, destruction of property, illegal arrests, and torture.

This fosters a climate of extreme and protracted insecurity that produces not only physical but also psychological injuries. “No one ever thinks about mental health. Nobody takes care of the psychological state of these people, and the void to fill is enormous,” says Andrea Grande, Project Manager of INTERSOS Cameroon.  “The decision to intervene originated from the events of November 2020 in Kumba, from the attack on a school by an armed group, which included the rape of several girls.” The school system is in fact strongly contested by armed groups, who accuse it of carrying a pro-government education program, and the subject of repeated attacks.

As the 2022 edition of the international day of the African Child is being celebrated, the competent authorities are called upon to look into the Plights of children residing in the restive northwest, Southwest and Far North regions of the country.

This include particular their mental health, as they constant gunshots, and other atrocities carried out in these regions continue to affect their psychology.

Ingrid Kengne