Dangerous resurgence in attacks by Boko Haram in Cameroon’s Far North Region

20.7.2022

Question for written answer  E-002682/2022
to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Rule 138
Thierry Mariani (ID)

According to the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), Boko Haram jihadis have ramped up their activity in Cameroon’s Far North Region. The group, which is known for its large-scale coordinated action, has lost the capacity to work in that way and now conducts smaller-scale action, the likes of which has enabled it to reoccupy northern Cameroon.

It has regained momentum as a result of its policy of non-violence towards civilians, its intense perpetration of crime and cattle rustling and its practice of taking commissions from the trafficking of arms, drugs and medicine.

According to Moussa Bobo, an IFRI researcher, Boko Haram’s growing presence has also revived interethnic conflicts (the Kotoko people in Logone-et-Chari stand accused of colluding with the jihadist movement owing to their proximity to the Kanuri, the ethnic group of ex-Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau) and interreligious conflicts (for example, the kidnapping of Catholic priests in 2014). Urban crime is also on the rise now that law enforcement bodies are focusing almost exclusively on taking down Boko Haram.

While the security situation in Cameroon continues to deteriorate as a result of Boko Haram’s activity, can the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy tell us whether the EU is helping to bring that group down and, if so, whether Boko Haram is remotely controlling mafias in Europe?