Southern Cameroons: “The Land That Bleeds” – Neglected No More?
By Andre Momo, BaretaNews – June 4, 2025
In a gripping new documentary titled “The Land That Bleeds,” the BBC Africa Eye investigative team has turned global attention once again to Cameroon’s long-suffering Anglophone regions. According to the latest report by the Norwegian Refugee Council, Cameroon now ranks as the world’s most neglected displacement crisis. The conflict, rooted in the marginalization of English-speaking communities by the Francophone-dominated state, has raged for nearly a decade — forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, some seeking refuge abroad.
Yet even as this international spotlight intensifies, a contradictory political move has emerged from the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing political influence is once again being felt through Republican-led efforts to dismantle Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Cameroonian nationals — a legal lifeline granted during his successor’s administration in response to the Anglophone crisis.
TPS, by design, is meant to offer sanctuary to nationals from countries undergoing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions. Cameroon — a textbook case of armed conflict and state-sponsored violence — should ideally remain under this protection. Yet, the Trump-aligned faction’s attempt to end TPS is not only cold-hearted but blatantly dismissive of overwhelming evidence like that presented in the BBC documentary.
“How Can You Deny This?”
The documentary reveals scorched villages, extrajudicial killings, burning homes, and widespread displacement. These are not abstract humanitarian concerns — they are real-time human rights violations that international bodies, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have extensively documented. The U.S. government itself has acknowledged these conditions in its annual Human Rights Report on Cameroon.
So, how then does the Trump wing justify ending TPS?
The answer lies in a broader anti-immigration ideology that has prioritized political optics over human survival. Ending TPS now — at a time when even global institutions declare Cameroon’s crisis as “the world’s most neglected” — is a move that borders on cruelty. It sends a dangerous message: that U.S. immigration policy can ignore the facts and abandon people who need refuge the most.
America’s Shrinking Moral Leadership
For years, the U.S. claimed to be a champion of human rights. But stripping Cameroonians of protected status while credible international journalism broadcasts their suffering in real time is a contradiction too glaring to ignore.
The political message is clear: some lives are deemed less urgent, even when the flames are visible.
Where Do We Go From Here?
As the BBC’s “The Land That Bleeds” opens the world’s eyes to the suffering in Ambazonia, it must also serve as a call to action for U.S. policymakers. The Biden administration had rightly extended TPS protections — now, all eyes are on whether this protection will withstand ongoing Republican pressure.
If the U.S. wants to restore its moral credibility, it must reconcile its immigration policies with the actual humanitarian realities on the ground. And right now, that reality is burning — in plain sight.
Andre Momo is a political correspondent for BaretaNews, focusing on diaspora affairs, U.S.-Africa policy, and human rights.
