INTERNATIONAL aid group Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it had been forced to withdraw its teams from Cameroon’s restive Northwest region where the government has been battling separatists for over four years.
The withdrawal follows a prolonged suspension of its operations in the region by the government of Cameroon, officially for a review.
Local government and military officials have accused MSF of supporting armed groups, which the organisation denies.
“We cannot stay any longer in a region where we are not allowed to provide care to people,” said Emmanuel Lampaert, MSF’s operations coordinator for Central Africa, in a statement.
Lampaert said the suspension, which came into force eight months ago, had significantly reduced access to medical services in an area where communities are badly affected by armed violence.
MSF said 89 local contracts had to be terminated in the Northwest region. These included doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, midwives, mental health counsellors, physiotherapists and some non-medical positions.
It also ended the contracts of the five remaining expatriate positions.
Contacted by Reuters, the Cameroonian government had no immediate response.
What began as peaceful protests over marginalisation in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions by the majority French-speaking government in 2016 has degenerated into a violent insurgency pitting separatist groups against Cameroon’s army.
Over 3,000 people have been killed and nearly a million have been displaced, with both sides regularly accused of committing atrocities.
MSF, which provides free medical services and managed the only 24/7 free ambulance service in the region, said many local healthcare facilities are no longer functional.
Many people struggle to access the remaining open healthcare facilities due to financial, security and logistical constraints, it said.