Question 11573 — foreign policy

Summary

Mrs Ersilia Soudais questions the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs on the situation in Cameroon. Following the presidential election of October 12, 2025 and the contested re-election of President Paul Biya - in office for more than four decades - numerous demonstrations broke out in several cities across the country. According to estimates by human rights organizations, Cameroonian security forces have killed between 30 and 55 civilians during the repression of these mobilizations, while the Cameroonian Government recognizes 16 deaths. This recent violence is part of a broader context of serious and persistent attacks on fundamental freedoms, particularly in the English-speaking regions of the North-West and South-West, where the conflict continues, where abuses are frequent and where access to care, education or justice remains. extremely limited. It is in this context, moreover, that Cameroonian doctors living in France contacted the MP. They fled Cameroon following reprisals, or even assassination contracts, which made it completely impossible for them to practice their profession in their country of origin. Furthermore, France recently recognized its responsibility for the repressions carried out in Cameroon in the 1950s, admitting officially that it was a colonial war and thus breaking with the narrative which claimed that the independence of the Cameroonians had been obtained without clashes. This unprecedented public recognition should have opened the way to a rebuilding of relations between France and Cameroon on the basis of truth, respect and support for the democratic aspirations of the Cameroonian people. However, it is clear that the policy France's current situation in the region seems to extend the historical logic of Françafrique, a system that many political leaders, researchers and civil society actors describe as still being largely operational. And for good reason: the inaction of President Emmanuel Macron in the face of the continued deterioration of the democratic situation in Cameroon contributes to maintaining political balances that favor perpetuation of the authoritarian regime of Paul Biya, whom journalist François Reynaert rightly describes as “one of the last representatives of Françafrique”. Before becoming president in 1982, a position he has never left since, he was in fact a prime minister of Ahmadou Ahidjo, a man placed by France. In this context, she asks him if France intends to finally clearly denounce the repression that the regime in place exercises against the Cameroonian people, rather than simply seeking to maintain its neocolonial influence in this region of Africa and if it plans to demand the release of all political detainees.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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