New Day, New Visa Restrictions: Which Country Next?
Admin GHRTV
In a press statement released on June 7, 2021, the United States (U.S.) Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced visa restrictions for persons responsible for, or complicit in, thwarting the peaceful resolution of the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon.
The Anglophone crisis is an armed conflict in western Cameroon between the Francophone, government-led majority, and the Anglophone minority, backed by the separatists. Mass protests and armed confrontation between the French- and the English-speaking parts of Cameroon started in 2016; however, the conflict roots deep into the Country’s colonial origins and the early post-independence years.
Consequently, Mr. Antony Blinken expressed deep concern regarding the ongoing violence in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions. The United States Secretary of State called for both the government of Cameroon and the armed separatist groups to put their arms down and engage in peaceful negotiations to resolve the crisis. In addition, Mr. Antony Blinken further emphasized that the visa restrictions policy reflects the US’ commitment to encourage a dialogue between the two sides of the Anglophone crisis and find a peaceful solution with respect to human rights. The announcement came two weeks after the United States imposed visa restrictions on Ethiopian and Eritrean officials, believed to be the perpetrators of the violent armed conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region.
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