Cameroon Responds to 36 African Migrants Deported from the United States
YAOUNDE, Cameroon — Thirty-six African migrants deported from the United States to Cameroon have filed a legal challenge seeking the right to live there legally and avoid repatriation to their home countries, their lawyer said Wednesday.
The deportations took place under a US program that sends foreign nationals in irregular situations to third countries. The complaint, filed with the administrative court in Yaounde, seeks to suspend the migration agreement between Cameroon and the United States and prevent onward removal of the migrants to countries where they face persecution or torture, said lawyer Fru Awah.
The individuals, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Angola, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Senegal, Zimbabwe, and Morocco, had been protected by US courts from deportation to their home countries. They were deported to Cameroon between January and May this year and now risk being sent back to their countries of origin.
“Cameroon cannot be used as a transit point,” Awah said. Since their arrival, the migrants have been living in a center run by Cameroonian authorities with the International Organization for Migration, without identity documents or clear legal status, and subject to movement restrictions.
Cameroon is among several African countries that have agreed to receive deportees from the US, including Rwanda, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. An AFP investigation found that Washington has offered agreements worth millions of dollars and threatened visa restrictions to persuade third countries to accept deportees.
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