According to a report by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), the Bum are an ethno-linguistic group located north of Fundung "inside the circumference of the Ring Road of the North West Province..." (2002, 3). According to Ethnologue, Bum is a language spoken in the "[n]orthern part of Fundong Subdivsion, mainly in the villages of Su-Bum and Laa-Bum, Menchum Division, North West Province" (2003). SIL estimates the population of Bum speakers at 15 000 (2002, 13).

In a paper entitled "The Bum and Their Institutions: In Memory of H.R.H. John Yai Fon of Bum, 1918 - 1917", Dr. Francis Ben Ny Amnjoh mentions that "Bum is a polity or state system in the Boyo division of the North-West Province of the Republic of Cameroon" (University of Kent at Canterbury n.d.). He adds that Bum refers to eight different groups of people of Tikar origin including: the Bum, the Sawis, the Saaffs, the Mbamlus, the Mbuks, the Mungongs, the Faats and the Fwios (ibid.). The Bum people are "agriculturalists" and "[c]hristians make up the largest religious group among" them (SIL 2002, 5). A specific overview of the history, political and social organisation, system of justice and belief system of the Bum people can be consulted on the Internet at http://www.era.anthropology.ac.uk/Era_Resources/Era/Kingdom_Bum/mulamba/nyamnjoh.html.

No information on the present treatment of the Bum people by the Cameroon authorities could be found in the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

However, according to SIL:

On August 21, 1986, a catastrophic explosion of natural gas escaping from the nearby volcanic Lake Nyos traumatized the Bum people. The largest Bum community at that time, Su-Bum, was in the area affected by the disaster. Most of the people and animals present in the town at that time were killed, and Su-Bum now lies uninhabited. Those who survived the disaster have been resettled by the governement in the villages of Kimbi River, Koene, and Buabua (2002, 5).

Also, according to the AFP, in 1996 "[t]he inhabitants of the 12 villages evacuated in the wake of the eruption are still living in hastily-built camps with no basic facilities such as schools, clinics and access roads. Many of the survivors are farmers, but they have no land to cultivate." (21 Aug. 1996). Faced with the "government inactivity," the Bum Development Union, started an aid fund in 1996 to help the villagers of the Nyos region (ibid.).

During a July 30 telephone interview, an employee of the national secretariat of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) stated that many political rallies took place in April 2002 in various parts of the country in preparation for the June 30 national elections (SDF 30 July 2003). Information on treatment of the members of the Social Democratic Front by the governmental authorities can be consulted on the Internet at http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/services/asylum/ric/documentation/CMR03002.htm. No other information on any demonstration of the Social Democratic Front in Doula around April 2002 could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 21 August 1996. Herbert Boh. "Cameroon marks 10th anniversary of lake tragedy." (Dialog).

Ethnologue. 2003. "BUM: a Language of Cameroon." http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=BMV [Accessed 28 July 2003]

Social Democratic Front (SDF). 30 July 2003. Telephone interview with an employee of the National Secretariat.

Summer Institutes of Linguistics (SIL). 2002. Melinda Lamberty. A Sociolinguistic Survey of Bum (Boyo Division, North West Province). http://www.sil.org/silesr/2002/SILESR2002-071.pdf [Accessed 28 July 2003]

University of Kent at Canterbury. n.d. Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing. Nyamnjoh, Francis Beng. "The Bum and their Institutions: In Memory of H.R.H. John Yai Fon of Bum ,1918 - 1917." Experience Rich Anthropology (EPA) Project. http://www.era.anthropology.ac.uk/Era_Resources/Era/Kingdom_Bum/mulamba/nyamnjoh.html [Accessed 28 July 2003]

IRB Databases

Ethnic Groups Worldwide

Europa World Yearbook

Keesing's Summary of World Events. 2002

Political Parties of the World

Unsuccessful attempts to contact one oral source.

World Directory of Minorities

Internet sites including:

Africatime

AllAfrica.com

Amnesty International

BBC News

The Bum Project

Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services

Cameroon Ethnologue

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2002

CVO Website

Ethnographic Studies of People and Communities

Ethnography on Women by Women

Human Rights Watch

Minorities at Risk

Social Democratic Front

WNC

World Press

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