Why is France painting Cameroon black?

The French have blacklisted north Cameroon as a danger zone. The Malian capital Bamako is currently considered more dangerous than the Far North region of Cameroon. Yet, this city is not marked as the danger zone

The website of the French embassy in Yaounde have published information to the effect that the Far North region of Cameroon and the Mayo-Louti division of that region are still considered to be danger zones.

To corroborate its point, the website cites the abduction by the jihadist sect Boko Haram of French citizens there in November 2013, of Italian and Canadian nationals in April 2014 and of Chinese in May 2014.

It also points to what it terms, “regular attacks against the civilian population” by the Nigerian sect and fears that the “recent engagement of Chad in support of Cameroonian forces could provoke an increase in the number of military operations in the border area.”

Besides, land mines are becoming more and more frequent in the area. For this reason, French nationals who are still stationed in the area have been called upon to leave with immediate effect.

In reaction to this, critics have described Quai d’Orsay, the French Presidency, as being blind to the security changes that have taken place in that part of Cameroon between February 3, 2015 and now.

During this period, it should be noted, there has been so much reinforcement by Cameroonian and Chadian soldiers as to ward off and neutralize all attacks on the area by Boko Haram.

Otherwise, peace has been restored in this area for this length of time. And this, observers argue, qualifies the region from been cancelled out of the danger zone.

If this part of Cameroon is still considered by France to be a danger zone, critics contend, that why is Bamako, the capital of Mali, which the French consider very risky have been cancelled from the danger zone list on the website of the French embassy in that country?

The insecurity in Bamako, it should be recalled, stems not only from the prevailing situation in the North of Mali but also from the fact that there was an attack on the city on the night of March 6, 2015, which led to the death of many citizens. The assailants are still on the run.

Is it then by error or design that the French government is classifying Cameroon’s Far North region and Mayo-Louti division in this category? some people questioned.

To this question, the information service of the French embassy in Yaounde has provided what is widely considered a not-too convincing response.

“Everything is in function of the evaluation of the security risk,” an anonymous informant of the said service of the embassy told Mutations newspaper. “There is no fundamental difference between advising French nationals against or calling on them to quit a zone with immediate effect. And then, it is not a recommendation. It is not an order to evacuate.

It goes without saying that there is no development without security and there is no security without development. Even if the Far North is a danger zone, France has not abandoned the development projects it is carrying out there.”