Washington, DC - The United States condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the November 5 kidnapping of students and staff from the Presbyterian Secondary School of Nkwen near Bamenda, Cameroon. We call for the immediate and safe return of these students and staff to their families.

The United States expresses grave concern over the burgeoning Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions. We urge an immediate halt to the indiscriminate targeting of civilians and burning of houses by Cameroonian government forces and to attacks perpetrated by both Anglophone separatists against security forces and civilians. The systematic intimidation based on ethnic and religious affiliation, including in Yaoundé and Douala, must stop. In memory of American missionary Charles Wesco and all others who have lost their lives in the Anglophone Crisis, we urge all sides to end the violence and enter into broad-based reconciliatory dialogue without preconditions.