The situation of African migrants expelled from the United States to Cameroon is raising serious concerns, particularly regarding access to adequate legal defense. Attorney Joseph Fru Awah, representing 12 of these migrants, claims he has been prevented from meeting with his clients for two weeks, following his arrest on February 17. According to him, a group of 15 African nationals has been held in a guarded concession on the outskirts of Yaoundé since their arrival in two waves, in mid-January and mid-February.
Among these migrants are individuals from Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Angola, Congo, Ghana, Morocco, and Zimbabwe. Mr. Awah denounces the fact that his clients are being held in uncertainty about their status and without the possibility of effectively organizing their defense. He reports that he was asked to go through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) before being able to meet with his clients, a requirement he considers irregular.
The lawyer emphasizes the fragile psychological state of these migrants, describing them as traumatized by their expulsion and frustrated by their detention. He recalls that Cameroon, according to him, has an obligation to protect them under international law, as some risk persecution in their country of origin. He says he is collaborating with the IOM and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to initiate asylum application procedures, pending an agreement from the Cameroonian authorities.
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also denounced these expulsions, stating that Cameroon is not a safe country to receive migrants expelled from the United States. HRW had previously documented cases of serious human rights violations against Cameroonians returned from the United States between 2019 and 2021, including torture, rape, and enforced disappearances. Cameroonian political actors are also demanding clarification on the agreement linking Yaoundé to Washington regarding these expulsions. For the time being, the Cameroonian government has not officially reacted to these concerns.
In February 2026, sources reported that eight African immigrants from Senegal, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia arrived in Cameroon after being expelled from the United States. The United States' expulsion of migrants to Cameroon is part of a secret agreement.
