CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background To The Study

Children have a unique place in society as they are often regarded as vulnerable which suffer both the direct and the indirect consequences of armed conflict. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1999, a child is anyone who is below the age of 18. This same age limit is contained in the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. All children need special care and protection and anyone below the age of 18 has to enjoy certain rights such as the right to life, to education, to health, freedom of expression and the right not to be tortured.

Children are the victims of serious violations of international humanitarian law, including recruitment into armed forces and armed groups. They are also victims of the indirect consequences of armed conflict and violence, suffering both physically and mentally which makes them have some perceptions on armed conflict. In times of war or armed violence, children are at high risk of either losing their loved ones to death or being separated from them. Children and their families are often forced to relocate and move from place to place to escape conflict. Many children witness violence or themselves suffer violence or abuse and children’s educational development is often interrupted

In trying to consolidate post-colonial national unity, Cameroon evolved through a series of revolutionary political stages which spanned across the federal and unitary system. In 1972, a constitutional referendum replaced the federal system with the unitary system. West Cameroon, which had federated in 1961 as an equal state, eventually ceased to exist. This gradually created an Anglophone political consciousness the feeling of being exploited by the Francophone dominated state. Cameroon also went through several changes under the incumbent president, who came to power in 1982. These included a change of name from the United Republic of Cameroon to the Republic of Cameroon (exact appellation of former French Cameroon when it got its independence), a change of national flag from two-star design (symbol of the coming together of Francophone and Anglophone parts) to a single star, and the adoption of a new constitution in 1996 that transformed Cameroon into a decentralized unitary state.

These changes are the reasons why many protesting Anglophones feel that their cultural and historical uniqueness was trounced in the union. The constitutional form of the state and the functioning of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government have, therefore, been contested since the union.

The contestants are opposition parties advocating for a change of government; federalist movements demanding a return to federalism; separatist movements fighting for secession and unionist movements standing against any change to the form of the state. This continued contestation of state structures threatens peace and stability in Cameroon as evidenced by the ongoing Anglophone crisis and highly polarized political climate.

Historical And Legal Context

Several legal declarations and treaties protect children and preserve access to health care during armed conflict. The most important of these include the Geneva Conventions (1949), the United Nations (UN) Refugee Convention (1951) and 1967 Protocol, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (1989) with its accompanying Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. According to international law, the involvement of children in armed conflict and facilities by combatants are human rights violations. Of particular relevance is the UNCRC, a legally binding treaty in which 40 substantive rights for children are outlined and grouped into 3 categories: protection, promotion, and participation. Specific child rights include protection from violence and sexual exploitation, freedom of thought, education, health services, welfare services, and specific rights of children who are refugees, separated, and unaccompanied. The United States remains the only country that has not ratified the UNCRC.

The UN has identified 6 categories of human rights violations against children, known as the 6 grave violations. These violations include the killing and maiming of children, the abduction of children, the recruitment or use of children as soldiers, sexual violence against children, attacks against schools or hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access. The first 4 are direct acts of violence against children, and the last 2 are indirect actions that cause harm to children. The commission of any of these violations constitutes a breach of international humanitarian law.

Armed conflict is a public health issue. An estimated 246 million children live in areas affected by conflict. Forced displacement is at a record high: more than 68.5 million people, including 28 million children, are currently living as refugees, asylum seekers, stateless people, or internally displaced people  Of the world’s 25 million refugees, half are children: nearly 1 in 200 children across the globe. The authors of the 2005 State of the World’s Children report, “Childhood Under Threat,” suggested that 90% of conflict-related deaths from 1990 to 2005 were civilians, many of whom were children.

Children living in countries affected by armed conflict. Percentage of the overall population <18 years of age in countries affected by armed conflict, which is defined as any organized dispute that involves the use of weapons, violence, or force, whether within national borders or beyond them, and whether involving state actors or nongovernment entities.

However, the precise effect of any given armed conflict on child health is difficult to determine. Conflicts disrupt the health information systems that report morbidity and mortality under typical circumstances. As a result, most published estimates of the population health effects of armed conflict are based on media reports and official pronouncements from governments and combating parties, which may politicize or intentionally misrepresent information. Deaths are also difficult to verify, and this may lead to underestimation. For example, in a report by the UN special rapporteur on children and armed conflict, it was estimated that thousands of children had died in the Syrian conflict in 2015. However, only 591 child deaths were verified by the UN, which accounts for barely 0.01% of the 50 000 deaths that other analysts had estimated to have occurred during that year.

The kinds of injuries children sustain from armed conflict vary depending on the nature of combat, with all age groups being affected. Blast injuries are caused by explosions and result in shockwave and shearing injuries, penetrating trauma, burns, crush injuries, and contamination injuries from the explosive device or environment. Children suffering from blast injuries usually present with multiple injury sites and types. Burns and severe head and neck injuries, and particularly penetrating head trauma, are the most common and the most lethal.

Estimates suggest that the prevalence of rape and sexual exploitation of children in armed conflict is increasing. In addition to the psychological trauma of sexual violence during armed conflict, girls who suffer rape are less likely than adults to seek medical attention and are at increased risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), pregnancy, obstetric or gynecologic complications (eg, vesicovaginal fistulas), and subsequent infertility. Boys also experience rape and STIs, although they are less likely than girls to report these violations because of stigma. Those who survive their experiences suffer from psychological trauma and often face stigma and exclusion when they return to their communities.65 Children born of rape during armed conflicts are a population that requires special attention. Girls who become pregnant as a result of rape may have ambivalent feelings toward their children, and the children may not be accepted into their communities.

Armed conflict creates environmental hazards that continue to affect children long after hostilities have ended. These injury patterns are seen because children are most often injured while playing, tampering with an explosive device, or performing economic activities, such as herding livestock. Chemical weapons and other chemical contaminants can also have long-term effects. The destruction of buildings, water supplies, wastewater systems, factories, fuel stations, and farms has been shown to limit access to potable water and sanitation and release infectious and chemical contaminants into the air, water, and soil. The long-term effects of these hazards on child health have not been well studied.

Exposure to armed conflict has social and psychological repercussions that endure long after the termination of hostilities. As with physical health, post-conflict mental health is dependent on multiple factors, including mental health status before the conflict, the nature of the conflict, exposure to stressors, and the cultural and community context.

Children who are affected by war have an increased prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, behavioral and psychosomatic complaints. Pooled estimates from a systematic review of nearly 8000 children who were exposed to war revealed that the prevalence of PTSD is 47%, that of depression is 43%, and that of anxiety is 27%, although rates are lower among children with more remote exposures. Young children ages 0 to 6 years exhibit increased anxiety, fear, startling, attention seeking, temper tantrums, sadness, and crying as well as difficulty sleeping alone and frequent awakenings. They are more likely to suffer psychosomatic symptoms, such as stomach aches and irregular bowel movements, and they demonstrate alterations in their play, which can become either more aggressive or more withdrawn. Parental mental health has an important influence on the mental health of children affected by conflict, particularly in young children. Adolescents with cumulative exposure to armed conflict events and those with PTSD resulting from armed conflict events have also been found have significantly higher rates of substance abuse.

Protective influences on the mental health and social wellbeing of children who are refugees in high-income countries include parental support and family cohesion, self-reported support from friends, self-reported positive school experience, and same–ethnic origin foster care.

Children are recruited or forced to participate in armed conflict in many different ways, including as soldiers, cooks, domestic workers, porters, human shields, mine sweepers, gang members, and sex slaves. Children who were associated with armed groups experience particular physical, developmental, and mental health risks; barriers in access to health services; and significant obstacles to social reintegration. In addition to physical injury and death, they are at high risk for HIV and other STIs, obstetric complications, and substance abuse.

Armed conflict separates children from their families, as evidenced by the increasing numbers of children fleeing conflict between both state and nonstate actors without parents or guardians. The number of children who are unaccompanied and separated who applied for asylum worldwide nearly tripled in 2015 to a staggering 98 400 children. These children often do not possess official documents, making it challenging for authorities to identify their age, risks, needs, and rights to protection.

The ongoing Anglophone crisis in Cameroon is a socio-political issue rooted in Cameroon’s colonial heritage. The issue principally opposes many Cameroonians from the Northwest and Southwest regions who consider themselves Anglophones.

The protest began on the 6 of October 2016 which was a sit-down strike in Bamenda, Buea, Limbe initiated by Cameroon Anglophone civil society consortium and organization consisting of lawyers and teacher trade unions from the Anglophone regions in Cameroon.

In 2016 and 2017 the Anglophone protest had as its goals to protect the common law systems of Anglophone Cameroonians, this was done by demonstrations, ghost towns and shutdown of schools. On the 23rd of November it was reported that at least 2 people were killed and 100 Protestants were arrested in Bamenda, and in September 2017 the protest and government response to them escalated into an armed conflict. The regions have been devastated by the crisis and social strife, leading to dysfunctional educational, health and economic sectors. With the advent of this socio-political crisis, it has led to the destruction of both property and human lives. Many communities have been completely burnt down and many lives lost and the trend continues daily.

The Anglophone crisis is gradually generating into genocide, people are killed on a daily basis and dumped in bushes, communities and houses are also raided on a daily basis. This has resulted in the homelessness of tens of thousands whose homes and communities have been erased by arson attacks.

So many families are forced to flee their homes to reside in bushes, crossing the boarders to neighboring Nigeria as refugees and or simply internally displaced. By January 2018, about 1500 people fled from southern Cameroons to Nigeria, the number kept increasing and by august 2018, more than 1800 people had been displaced due to war, as of May 2019 about 53000 people had been internally displaced and 3500 had fled to Nigeria women and children inclusive. Children are often regarded as the most vulnerable groups.

More than 1 in 10 children worldwide are affected by armed conflict.1 Combat activities and population displacement caused by conflict have direct effects on child mortality and morbidity. In addition, there are long-lasting indirect effects that are mediated by complex political, social, economic, and environmental changes. In 2015, there were 223 violent conflicts, of which 43 were limited- or full-scale wars.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

Since children are identified as vulnerable groups during the conflict and must be provided with the necessary protection. The situation is totally opposite whereby children paid the cost of the armed struggle of having their basic rights violated and face the consequences of the conflict.

In the current armed conflict in the Anglophone region of Cameroon which started in September 2016. It is estimated that more than 500,000 children have experienced the ongoing armed conflict in this region of Cameroon making the children to have different perceptions and experiences, while some are recruited and used by the fighting groups (NSAG).

The number shows that there is another considerable number of children who are killed and maimed, abducted or otherwise raped by the fighting groups. In addition, millions of children have suffered sexual violence, grave psychological trauma, malnutrition, disease, and the multiple consequences of being forced to flee their homes.

Conflicts have further deprived children of their local support system which is family, community, education and health exacerbating these problems. In this scenario, therefore, to examine children’s experience and perceptions of the anglophone armed conflict in Muyuka. Also, a contribution to filling this research gap by generating some insights that can help to understand the situation better.

1.3 Research Questions

The questions this research seeks to answer are:

1.3.1 Main Research Question

What are children’s experience and perceptions of the Anglophone armed conflict in Muyuka?

1.3.2 Specific Research Questions

1. What are children’s experience with the ongoing Anglophone armed conflict.?
2. To analyse children’s perceptions of the Anglophone armed conflict?
3. What recommendations can be made to help effectively protect children and mitigate their perception of armed conflict?

Read More: Sociology Project Topics with Materials