Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage the Government of Cameroon and representatives of the Anglophone community in that country to negotiate in peace talks to put an end to recent alleged massacres in southern Cameroon.

I released a statement on 4 October expressing the Government's deep concern at the situation, 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. We urge the Cameroonian Government to accept the United Nations' offer of help to support dialogue with the Anglophone community.