Since 2017, secessionist militias in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions have been battling government troops over perceived marginalisation.

The Cameroonian government “has not entrusted any foreign country or external entity with any role of mediator or facilitator to settle the crisis,” it said in a statement on Monday that did not directly mention Canada.

On January 21, Canada’s foreign ministry said it had accepted a mandate to facilitate a peace process between Cameroonian authorities and some separatist factions in English-speaking regions to resolve a conflict that has killed more than 6,000 people since 2017.

A spokesperson for the Anglophone separatists, who are trying to form a breakaway state called Ambazonia in the country’s minority English-speaking regions, said they had taken note of the government’s latest statement but would not comment further.

On January 21, they said they were committed to a negotiated process mandated by Canada.

The press secretary of Canada’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comments from Reuters.

The United States embassy in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde said on Twitter on Monday that it welcomed Canada’s announcement of talks to resolve the crisis.

Cameroon’s separatist movement stems from the perceived marginalisation of the English-speaking community by the French-speaking majority since independence.

Since 2017, factions of secessionist militias have been battling government troops in the two English-speaking regions, which has killed thousands and displaced nearly 800,000 people. Meanwhile, some 600,000 children do not have full access to education, according to the Canadian government, as many schools have been shut.

A 2019 national dialogue granted special status to the two Anglophone regions but failed to resolve the conflict.