Amnesty International said human rights conditions in Cameroon remained alarming in 2025, particularly in the Northwest and Southwest regions, where clashes between government forces and armed separatist groups continued. The findings were published in the organization’s annual global human rights report released in April 2026.

In the three pages devoted to Cameroon, Amnesty International highlighted severe disruption to education in the two Anglophone regions. The organization said 14,829 schools were closed in 2025, up from 14,364 a year earlier. More than three million children had their education disrupted as a result, leaving them more vulnerable, including to recruitment by non-state armed groups.

Amnesty International also noted that only 41% of children had access to pre-primary education, with rural communities the most affected. The organization linked the situation to persistent insecurity and attacks carried out by separatist groups in the Northwest and Southwest regions.

Citing reports from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Amnesty International documented multiple attacks targeting teachers, students and parents that were intended to disrupt examinations. In 2025, residents of the two regions also faced targeted killings, recurrent kidnappings, illegal taxation, roadblocks, extortion, restrictions on movement and improvised explosive device attacks, including in public spaces and on major roads.

As in previous years, fighting between government forces and armed separatist groups continued throughout 2025. Amnesty International added that violence between farmers and herders in the Northwest region further worsened the security situation. According to the organization, the combined violence displaced nearly one million people within the country.

Amnesty International also reported that OCHA’s monthly bulletins regularly documented arbitrary arrests in the Northwest and Southwest regions following clashes between the army and armed separatist groups.

Through its latest report, the organization highlighted the continuing crisis in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, where insecurity continues to affect education, civilian protection and basic freedoms.

Source: Sbbc