TAKE ACTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Help Cameroonian Refugees!

Right now, Cameroon is facing three separate humanitarian crises: Armed conflict with the armed group Boko Haram in the Far North region; a political and humanitarian crisis in the Anglophone North-West and South-West regions; and a refugee crisis in the East, near the border with the Central African Republic.

Despite that reality, there are currently over 100 Cameroonians in ICE custody who could be deported at any given moment, and over 40,000 Cameroonians in the United States without protection from unjust detention and deportation. Granting TPS (Temporary Protected Status) for Cameroonian immigrants would be a critical lifeline.

In partnership with and guided by the leadership of the Cameroon Advocacy Network, Amnesty is calling on the United States government to act now for Cameroonians: Call upon the Biden Administration to designate Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status.

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Secretary

Antony

Blinken

State Department

DHS Secretary

Alejandro

Mayorkas

DHS

Secretary

Antony

Blinken

Department of State

Assistant Secretary

Mary Catherine

Phee

U.S. Department of State

To Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas –

I’m writing on behalf of Amnesty International with deep concern over the safety and wellbeing of the over 40,000 Cameroonians living in the United States who would be at grave risk if forcibly returned to Cameroon, including over 100 who are currently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and could be deported at any moment.

Cameroon is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis and internal armed conflict characterized by massive internal displacement, state-sponsored violence, war crimes, and critical shortages of essentials including water, food, housing, and healthcare. These conditions make safe return to Cameroon impossible, and the United States  must act immediately to extend protection from deportation to Cameroonians living in the U.S. The COVID-19 pandemic has only intensified the humanitarian crisis in Cameroon, where violence and heavy rains have catastrophically degraded infrastructure essential to the delivery of humanitarian aid and pandemic relief.

In 2017 Amnesty published a report revealing deliberate acts of torture and war crimes in the fight against Boko Haram,and in 2020 we documented Cameroonian security forces’ and armed groups’ continued abuses and human rights violations, the government’s crackdown on peaceful dissent and on critics, reports of torture and other ill-treatment in detention, widespread gender-based violence against women, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people due to violence.

In February 2022, Human Rights Watch published the report “How Can You Throw Us Back?” documenting how Cameroonian asylum-seekers deported from the United States were – upon return to Cameroon – tortured, physically or sexually abused, or assaulted by state agents, and were detained in jails, prisons, military camps, or other detention facilities for days to months. Members of their families were also subjected to such serious human rights violations. Perpetrators included Cameroonian police, gendarmes, and military personnel, among other officials and state agents.

Cameroonians in the United States, along with other Black and African immigrant communities, are disproportionately detained during their immigration proceedings. Cameroonians in ICE custody have endured prolonged and unnecessary detention; racist and xenophobic abuse; denial of medical, includingmental, health care; disproporationate use of force; and prolonged solitary confinement.

I call on Assistant Secretary Phee, Secretary Blinken, and Secretary Mayorkas to:

Designate Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status, which would provide life-saving protection to Cameroonians in the U.S. who, if deported, would be at imminent risk of harm or death, and keep them out of ICE custody

Grant humanitarian parole for those unjustly deported

End the use of arbitrary, mass immigration detention, including phasing out ICE contracts with private prison companies and county jails, and incorporate a presumption of liberty in all custody decisions such that asylum-seekers and immigrants are allowed to live in the U.S. as they navigate the immigration process, with the support of sponsors and community-based nonprofits should they need it

Please act immediately to protect Cameroonians in the United States before the situation gets any worse.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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