36 US-Deported Migrants Seek Legal Right to Stay in Cameroon

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Yaounde: Thirty-six African migrants deported from the United States to Cameroon have launched legal action seeking the right to remain in the country and prevent being sent back to their home nations, where they say they could face persecution or torture.

The group, originally from countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, Zimbabwe and Morocco, was deported to Cameroon between January and May under a US policy that transfers some migrants to third countries instead of returning them to their countries of origin.

Their lawyer has asked a court in Yaounde to suspend the migration arrangement between Cameroon and the United States, arguing that the deportees should be granted legal status in Cameroon and protected from further deportation while the case is being heard.

According to the legal filing, the migrants have been living in a centre run by the Cameroonian authorities with support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). They are said to have no identity documents, no clear legal status and face restrictions on their movement.

Cameroon is one of several African countries that have agreed to receive migrants deported by the United States. The Trump administration has argued that although some individuals cannot be returned to their home countries, they can legally be sent to third countries.

Pic Credit: AFP