Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he or officials from his Department have made to the Government of Cameroon on recent alleged massacres in southern Cameroon.

The Government is deeply concerned to hear reports of deaths and injuries in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon, including reports that civilians were killed by the security forces and many more were injured.

I released a statement on 4 October expressing the British Government's deep concern, urging restraint, and calling on all parties to reject violence and to enter into dialogue to find urgent solutions to Anglophone grievances.

Our High Commission in Yaoundé continues to follow events in the Anglophone regions closely, meeting opposition groups and the authorities. The High Commissioner has raised the need for dialogue and restraint with the Prime Minister and a number of his Cabinet Ministers, as well as the Director General for Intelligence. He also underlined the importance of Cameroon's obligations under international law in respect to human rights. He has also voiced the United Kingdom's concerns publicly in interviews on Cameroonian television.