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Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country summary

The Republic of Cameroon originally declared that there were no mined areas under its jurisdiction and control, and its first Article 5 deadline expired in 2013. However, since 2014 victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have caused casualties, particularly in Cameroon’s northern districts along the border with Nigeria. The extent of contamination is not known but is believed to be small. Cameroon has yet to report and clarify on the extent of contamination from improvised mine types.

The total number of mine/explosive remnant of war (ERW) casualties in Cameroon is not known. Between 2014 and 2019, the Monitor recorded 161 mine/ERW casualties. The majority of the casualties were caused by improvised mines, although media reports generally did not specify the initiation mechanism of the devices used, which could clarify if they were in effect antipersonnel mines.

Cameroon does not have a functioning mine action program. Members of the country’s security forces have been regularly trained in explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) by France, Russia, and the United States (US). Cameroon did not report any risk education activities in 2019. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continued to support the only hospital providing surgical services in Logone-et-Chari department.

Treaty status

Treaty status overview

Management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination

Cameroon does not have a functioning mine action program.

Impact

Contamination

Landmine contamination

Cameroon originally declared that there were no mined areas under its jurisdiction and control. However, since 2014 mines of an improvised nature have caused casualties, particularly in Cameroon’s northern districts along the border with Nigeria, as Boko Haram’s military activities escalate. However, it is not clear whether these meet the definition of an antipersonnel mine.

The extent of mine contamination in Cameroon is not known. Cameroonian military officials reported in 2015 that “huge” numbers of landmines had been planted by Boko Haram along Cameroon’s Nigerian border, posing a threat to civilians, livestock, and soldiers. They also reported recurrent use of mines along the road between Kerawa and Kolofata, targeting army vehicles.[1]

In 2019, there continued to be a number of reports of casualties from mines of unspecified types.[2]

There are no legacy minefields in Cameroon, and incidents relating to ERW are reported infrequently.[3]

Casualties

Casualties overview[4]

Casualties in 2019: details

The Monitor recorded 43 mine/ERW casualties in Cameroon in 2019, which represents an increase by almost half from the 29 casualties recorded for 2018. In 2019, casualties from improvised mines continued to be reported, mostly in the Far North region, and several mine incidents were reported in the Southwest region. These incidents were linked to fighting between Cameroon’s government forces and Boko Haram along the border with Nigeria. The initiation mechanism of the devices used was generally not specified.[5] There were reports of similar incidents during the first quarter of 2020.[6]

There is no estimate of the total number of mine/ERW casualties in Cameroon. Since 2014, the Monitor recorded at least 161 mine/ERW casualties, of which 76 were killed and 85 were injured. Many of the incidents were linked to Boko Haram activities in the Far North region of Cameroon. However, most media reports did not specify the type of mine causing the incident. Several incidents caused by improvised mines type were reported in 2014, and between 2017 and 2019.[7] UNMAS identified use of improvised mines in Cameroon since 2016.[8]

Addressing the impact

Mine action

Operators and service providers

Clearance operators

UNMAS reported in April 2017 that Cameroon’s Military Engineer Corps has official responsibility for clearing munitions and that an EOD capacity within the gendarmerie was being created to address the mine threat. A capacity for battle area clearance (BAC) and EOD spot tasks was also reported to be required.[9]

From June 2018 to June 2019, over 1,400 members of Cameroon’s security forces were trained in EOD by the francophone international police training network (Réseau international francophone de formation policière, Francopol).[10] This followed an earlier training of 25 Cameroonian soldiers by the French and the US armies in Level 4 EOD, from March to April 2018.[11] Since 2015, Cameroon was reported to have received demining/EOD training and equipment from Russia and the US.[12]

Clearance

Land release overview

It is not known if and to what extent mine clearance or EOD has been undertaken in affected areas. At the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2019, Cameroon appealed for international support to increase its mine clearance capacity and to enable the country to conduct technical surveys.[13]

Risk education

Cameroon did not report any risk education activities in 2019.

In its 2016–2017 protection strategy, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identified the need to assess the situation related to mines, including those of an improvised nature, and to develop a risk education strategy in the Far North region. The strategy was to benefit refugee and displaced populations, as well as host communities.[14] In the Far North, Boko Haram’s attacks have displaced thousands of people since 2013. Numbers of displaced people have increased from 60,000 in December 2014 to 300,000 in December 2019.[15]

Victim assistance

In 2019, the ICRC continued to support one hospital in northern Cameroon, although the precarious security situation and a government-imposed curfew limited access to health services.[16] The hospital in Mada was the only facility providing surgical services in the Logone-et-Chari department. The ICRC also provided wound-dressing kits to two primary health care centers in northern Cameroon.[17]