The US branch of the international NGO has said repatriating Cameroonians now that the country is facing an armed conflict is not an option, “Amnesty International USA calls upon the Trump administration to refrain from deporting people to Cameroon, as the administration schedules deportations this week from Alexandria Airport in Louisiana. The organization is also concerned about the threat of imminent deportation of Cameroonians now being held at the Prairieland detention center in Texas.”
Amnesty USA argues that the fate of those to be repatriated is uncertain, “Given the current conditions in the country, it is extremely likely that anyone who is returned to Cameroon will face a high risk of being detained, beaten, disappeared, tortured, or possibly even killed,” stated Adotei Akwei, Amnesty International USA’s deputy director of Advocacy and Government Relations. “We are calling on the U.S. government to halt all deportations during this deadly pandemic and are alarmed that it is pursuing these deportations to Cameroon. The United States has both a legal and a moral imperative to welcome those fleeing conflict and persecution to the country: Cameroonians have established vibrant and thriving communities in the United States and people in this country are eager to welcome their new neighbors to safety.”
Earlier during the week, Anglophone Cameroonians including Ambazonians fighting for a new State in Anglophone Cameroon raised alarms on imminent repatriation of some 80 persons to Cameroon.
They were allegedly taken from Louisiana to Dallas, Texas, awaiting repatriation.
