Families of Cameroonians demand the return of relatives recruited into the Russian army

March in Yaoundé and demands addressed to two countries

A peaceful action took place in Cameroon's capital, Yaoundé, outside the Russian embassy. It was organized by the collective 'Bring Back Our Sons and Brothers', which is demanding that Russia and Cameroon jointly dismantle the covert recruitment networks that enlist Cameroonians into the Russian army to take part in the war in Ukraine. One of the group's founders, Paul Sylvain Yede, said the march was intended to draw the attention of the 'two friendly states' and push them to do everything possible to break up the network which, in his words, 'continues to drain Cameroon of its sons' (euronews).

The scale of recruitment according to a human rights report

According to a report by the collective 'All Eyes on Wagner', cited by euronews, at least 1,417 Africans have been recruited into the ranks of the Russian army, and the publication reported more than 300 deaths. According to the outlet, young people were lured with promises of jobs in Russia, but instead ended up on the front line in Ukraine, where Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Stories of relatives

Ekaterina Djok has spent nearly a year waiting for news from her husband, who went to Russia to work, as he believed, in a kitchen. 'For nine months I have had no information about my husband's condition — whether he is alive or not. I cannot accept that he is dead, since I have not seen his body, so I believe he is alive,' euronews quotes her as saying. According to her account, her husband was supposed to work as a cook, but upon arrival he ended up on the front line. The father of another recruit, Ngong San Jombi, said he had lost the youngest of his five sons and demanded his return 'in any condition — even as an invalid', refusing to bury his son without a body.