International health humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières said it has been forced to withdraw its operations from the northwest region of Cameroon.
The organization’s announcement this week comes after almost eight months of suspension by the country’s government. Despite months of dialogue with the government, the organization was not permitted to resume its work.
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"We cannot stay any longer in a region where we are not allowed to provide care to people here," wrote Emmanuel Lampaert, operations coordinator for Central Africa at MSF, in a press release. “Unfortunately, we cannot keep our staff on standby any longer, so we have no choice but to withdraw our teams.”
The organization will keep a small office in the regional capital of Bamenda to continue conversations with the government.
Free health care: For over four years, the region has faced severe violence, as a variety of armed groups and Cameroon’s armed forces face-off. The conflict has resulted in acts of torture, raids on communities, kidnappings, and extrajudicial killings. Armed actors have attacked health care facilities and many are non-functional. A recent Amnesty International report said all parties to the conflict have committed human rights violations and torture, and civilians are the ones bearing the brunt.
Ethiopia suspends MSF and NRC over ‘dangerous’ accusations
The Ethiopian government suspended Médecins Sans Frontières and the Norwegian Refugee Council from working in the country, amid an escalating humanitarian crisis in the country’s northern regions.
The organization has been one of the few providing free medical care and ambulance services in the northwest region since 2018. But in December 2020, Cameroon’s government accused the organization of supporting armed groups in the region and then “forcibly” suspended its operations. MSF has rejected these allegations.
Suspensions in multiple conflicts: News of the withdrawal from Cameroon comes shortly after MSF received notification from the Ethiopian government on July 30 that it was suspending the organization’s operations in the country for three months, amid an escalating humanitarian crisis in the northern region of Tigray. Armed militants have deliberately attacked health infrastructure during the conflict.
About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
