Hundreds of Cameroonians affected by the recent spate of xenophobic violence in South Africa say they have been left on their own. Many are sleeping in police stations and refugee camps and urgently need food, shelter and medical attention, we have been told.
Others have fled to places like Zimbabwe. “No one is coming to our assistance,” said a Cameroonian student, who said men armed with machetes and clubs kicked her into the streets and took away all her belongings.
“The embassy is simply not taking calls,” said another, a Durban-based Cameroonian mechanic now living with his South African girlfriend’s family in Johannesburg. “All our properties have either been destroyed or stolen. We cannot go back [to our homes],” he said. “It is still not safe.”
More than a dozen people who spoke to us on the phone Tuesday April 21, related similar tales of abuse and neglect. They asked not to be named so that they could speak openly about the plight of Cameroonians trapped in the violence.
More than 1,000 Cameroonians are believed to be working and studying in South Africa, which became a land of opportunities for most Africans after the Apartheid.
A list of more than 20 Cameroonian associations on the website of the High Commission shows how diverse the Cameroonian public out there is.
A large number are students, but most are people who do small jobs like housekeeping and run micro-businesses. Others are pursuing professional careers in areas like medicine and engineering.
Cameroon authorities silent Many governments have been bussing and flying out their compatriots affected by the violence and providing temporary shelter and protection to those still in the country. But “Cameroon has been silent,” said Elvis Ndassi, former parliamentary candidate and youth leader of the National Union for Democracy and Progress (NUDP) party.
A number listed on the Cameroon High Commission website was unavailable the whole of Tuesday. The high Commission did not respond to our email for clarifications. “It is important during moments of distress like this that the embassy should be available and the country should be able to make a statement to assure its citizens,” Ndassi said.
“This is similar to Boka Haram, when we all stood up to march against Boko Haram because our country and citizens were under threat. The life of every citizen should be important to the government no matter where the citizen is.”
No to xenophobia Demonstrations have been held outside South African embassies and high commissions around the continent to protest the violence, which has left several people dead.
South Africans say they are protecting jobs that foreigners take away from them. The violence exclusively targeted Africans from other countries.
Authorities there have condemned the violence and began arresting hundreds of suspects and providing security to African immigrants.
Amid fears of reprisals, Ndassi urged Cameroonian youth to show restraint and assured South Africans of their safety in Cameroon. “We have South Africans in this country and we want to say that we are responsible young people,” Ndassi said in an interview.
“There is never a day any South African youth will be attacked in Cameroon because of what is happening in [in their country].”
