Cameroon diocese issues ‘urgent alert’ on human trafficking surge amid regional violence

ACI Africa, Apr 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Cameroon’s Diocese of Kumbo, which is part of Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province, located in the country’s conflict-affected northwest region has issued an “urgent alert” on a surge of human trafficking in the diocese.

In a statement shared with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, on April 8, the coordinator of the Commission for Justice and Peace in the Cameroonian diocese said that traffickers, who are now capitalizing on the region’s crises, “keep changing their strategies.”

“The Justice and Peace Commission of Kumbo Diocese has been sensitizing us on issues of trafficking over the years,” said Sister Minkoue Falie, a member of the Congregation de Notre-Dame.

In a statement titled “An Urgent Alert on the Situation of Human Trafficking in the Diocese of Kumbo,” Falie wrote: “The ongoing crises in the two Anglophone regions have increased vulnerability, unemployment, and hardship in our communities. Traffickers are taking advantage of this, and the rate of human trafficking has drastically increased in the past years.”

“We write once again to call your attention to the growing phenomenon of human trafficking taking roots in our diocese,” Falie said, encouraging families whose members have fallen victim to human trafficking to report the matter “as a matter of urgency.”

She continued: “Many of our sons and daughters, friends, and relatives were promised jobs in big companies and are now stranded in Togo, Nigeria, Ghana, etc., always demanding more money for one thing or another as we write.”

“As a matter of urgency, we call on any family whose child or children have fallen victim to get in touch with the diocesan Justice and Peace Office as soon as possible with useful information to enable the office to respond to this worrying issue.”

Cameroon’s English-speaking regions plunged into conflict in 2016 after a protest by lawyers and teachers turned violent. An armed movement of separatists claiming independence for the so-called “Republic of Ambazonia” emerged following the government’s crackdown on protesters.

School boycotts have become common in the Cameroonian region as have enforced moratoriums on public life known as “ghost towns.”

According to a March report, Cameroon’s crisis “has caused over 900,000 people to flee internally and 60,000 people to flee abroad.”

The report indicates that “as of February 2025, more than 500,000 internally displaced people were in Anglophone-majority regions.”

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has reported that the Central African nation plays host to over 400,000 refugees primarily coming from the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Chad, and Niger; more than 17,000 asylum seekers; and over 1 million internally displaced persons “with an additional 658,544 returnees.”

More than 3.3 million people stand in need of humanitarian aid in Cameroon.

In recent years, however, there have been reported instances of former separatist fighters laying down arms, transitioning into professional careers, and advocating for peace.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.