From Amnesty International USA (http://www.amnestyusa.org):
Cameroon is facing three human rights crises — all at the same time.
In the Far North, government forces battle with the armed group Boko Haram in ongoing conflict that threatens to catch millions in the crossfire. In the Northwest and Southwest, communities face grave human rights violations like extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention driven by conflict between the government and armed separatist groups. In the East, refugees are suffering at the border, with inadequate access to medical supplies, food, and other basic necessities.1
While the situation on the ground is extremely complicated, one truth is crystal clear: No one should be forced back to danger in Cameroon under these conditions. Period.
But right now, over 40,000 Cameroonians living in the United States are at risk of being deported to Cameroon. And according to our experts, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security will soon make a decision whether or not to grant them Temporary Protected Status, which could ensure their safety from deportation or immigration detention in the U.S. Send a message right now to the Biden administration and Congress at https://act.amnestyusa.org/page/92911/action/1, asking for their protection.
Let’s put this plainly: This Black History Month, Secretary Mayorkas may abandon over 40,000 Cameroonian immigrants. They face potential deportation back to a country that has been embroiled in conflict for years, where civilians are regularly killed, where people are kidnapped, where activists and journalists are tortured by their own government, where LGBTQI+ individuals are targeted with violence, and so much more.
President Biden promised to do better than the Trump administration. In the final months of President Trump’s administration, DHS and ICE heavily accelerated their deportation efforts predominantly towards Black asylum-seekers and immigrants in their custody. Given the vile rhetoric directed at refugees from these nations by President Trump himself, and the fact that rates of deportation for African immigrants accelerated at the fastest pace of any group, the reality is clear: These policy choices were racist to their core.
We’re talking about families who risked their entire life savings to find a flight anywhere — with stories of many flying to South and Central America and then taking the notoriously treacherous journey on foot for just a chance at safety. Trump and his administration may not have cared, but we cannot allow the Biden administration to continue these harms.
Here’s the way out of this: Amnesty has joined with the Cameroon Advocacy Network, seeking the best way to be an ally to Cameroonian immigrants. Here’s what their experts let us know: the Department of Homeland Security is conducting an internal review on whether to designate Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status, which would protect Cameroonians in the U.S. from deportation. This is our moment to exert maximum pressure.
All too often, decisions regarding immigrants and people seeking safety are made in backrooms — outside of the public eye — by unelected officials. Right now, we need to make one thing clear: We are watching this decision, we are demanding they take the moral route, and we will not turn away as tens of thousands of people are left behind.
P.S. For years, Amnesty has documented human rights abuses against Cameroonians at risk in their country. Hundreds of thousands of Cameroonians have been forced from their homes — seeking safety wherever they have hope of finding it. Over 40,000 have made their way to the United States, but the Department of Homeland Security has not yet granted them Temporary Protected Status. Your action can help change this.
1 https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/africa/west-and-central-africa/cameroon/report-cameroon/
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