Contrary to information recently propagated online, there will be an informal meeting at the United Nations to discuss the humanitarian crisis in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon.
The United States called the meeting and has the duty of convincing members of the security council to attend, *it is not mandatory*.
This informal meeting is known within UN circles as the ‘Arria formula’, where a member of the Security Council will persuade fellow members to meet informally and discuss an issue, hoping to convince them for a hearing of the matter at the Security Council.
The US has felt the need to convince members of the security council to discuss the Cameroon situation and is using this formula as a resort.
Unlike Security Council meetings which take place at Council Chambers, this one will hold at the Delegates’ Conference Room.
Also, this informal meeting is not enshrined in the UN Charter or the standing orders of the council.
Moreover, Indonesia, holding the current Presidency of the Security Council has said the country is not interested in the meeting. Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa and Equatorial Guinea, representatives of the African continent at the Security Council have also said they will not take part in the meeting. The concerned, Cameroon, has refused it will participate in the ‘Arria formula’.
Furthermore, staff of the UN secretariat do not take part in such a meeting. Discussions do not feature in UN books but are sometimes mediatized.
This kind of meeting was named after the Venezuela Ambassador to the UN, Diego Arria (1992 to 1993). He was then President of the Security Council and called the meeting on the situation of former Yugoslavia. Members of the council at a tea table listened to the eye witness account of a Bosnian priest.
Observers say the Cameroonian government is fighting secession attempts in the NW/SW. The situation is a strictly internal matter which poses no threat to regional or international Security. There’s thus absolutely no reason for the Security Council to get involved.
The US is only worried that China and Russia are closer to Yaounde. The trump administration wants to use the Security Council to force their destabilisation plan on Cameroon. Therefore, Washington is not seeking the interest of refugees and internally displaced persons. Tibor Nagy, the under Secretary for Africa in the Trump administration, had earlier said their eyes are on Cameroon after Sudan.
Between 1861 and 1865, the US fought the bloodiest war against the 11 secessionist southern federated states to keep the territorial integrity of the US. Though the US does not currently support secessionist movements in Spain, France and UK, it is, however, hosting numerous Cameroonians funding the conflict in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon on its soil.
*John Akuma*