SAN FRANCISCO, September 28, (THEWILL) – Cameroon has denied allegations by an international human rights watchdog that it forcibly returned about 100,000 Nigerian refugees in breach of international law.
The Human Rights Watch, HRW, on Wednesday alleged that Cameroon had put the internally displaced persons, IDPs, in danger from Boko Haram terrorists.
The AFP news agency however reports that the Cameroon government spokesman, Issa Tchiroma Bakary has issued a formal and categorical denial, saying the report was not based on anything.
“I should like to remind Human Rights Watch of two things. Firstly, we have today almost 500,000 refugees in our country… Secondly, it is not Cameroon’s role to take in refugees from around the globe.”
“The allegations of torture and notably sexual aggression (by troops) constitute a shameful lie”.
The information minister is reported to have further told the newswire that Cameroonian soldiers received moral training before going into theatres of operation and that anyone caught violating the guidelines would be punished.
“Until a soldier is caught red-handed engaged in sexual assault all of this is just Human Rights Watch fantasy”.
