had summarily deported more than 100,000 Nigerians living in areas located along the Cameroon-Nigeria border, often with unnecessary and excessive use of force. Some of those forcibly returned, including children, weakened by living for months or years with limited or no access to food and health care, died during the deportations. In December, UNHCR reported having registered more than 5,000 Cameroonians, mainly women and children, who had fled the Anglophone areas of Cameroon to Nigeria. DEATH PENALTY People accused of supporting Boko Haram continued to be sentenced to death following unfair trials in military courts; none were executed during the year. The cases were all prosecuted under the deeply flawed 2014 anti-terrorism law. 1. Cameroon’s secret torture chambers: Human rights violations and war crimes in the fight against Boko Haram (AFR 17/6536/2017) 2. Cameroon: Arrests and civil society bans risk inflaming tensions in English-speaking regions (Press release, 20 January) RIGHT TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING CANADA The conflict with Boko Haram led to the internal displacement of around 240,000 people in the Far North region and exacerbated the hardships experienced by communities, limiting their access to basic social services, and disrupting trade, farming and pastoralism. In December, almost 3.3 million people, of whom 61% were in the Far North region, were in need of humanitarian assistance, including food and medical care. Humanitarian access continued to be restricted by the ongoing conflict. Canada Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Julie Payette (replaced David Johnston in October) Head of government: Justin Trudeau RIGHT TO EDUCATION Dozens of schools were closed in the Englishspeaking regions between November 2016 and September 2017, following strikes and boycotts called for by trade unions and members of civil society. Extreme elements within Anglophone pro-secession groups carried out attacks on education facilities that “breached the boycott”. Between January and September 2017, more than 30 schools were burned and severely damaged. In the Far North region, 139 primary schools in the departments of Logone and Chari, Mayo Sava and Mayo Tsanaga remained closed because of insecurity and at least eight were occupied by security forces, affecting almost 40,000 children. Amnesty International Report 2017/18 Discrimination against Indigenous Peoples continued, in particular the failure to protect their rights to lands and resources. Urgent measures were required to ensure the safety of Indigenous women and girls while a national inquiry was under way. There was a substantial increase in numbers of asylum-seekers crossing the border from the USA irregularly. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS Government commitments to respect and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples were contradicted by the failure to address violations of treaty-protected Indigenous hunting and fishing rights by the planned flooding of the Peace River Valley in the province of British Columbia for the Site C dam. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal issued three non-compliance orders against the federal government for discrimination in services for First Nations children and families. The Public Inquiry Commission on Relations between Indigenous Peoples and Certain Public Services in Québec held hearings throughout the year. 115