Thirty six African migrants deported from the United States have asked a court in Yaoundé to suspend a reported US-Cameroon migration arrangement and stop them being sent to countries where they say they could face persecution, torture or other serious harm.
The case brings Washington’s expanding third-country deportation policy before an African court, raising questions about Cameroon’s legal obligations, the migrants’ uncertain status and whether an undisclosed bilateral arrangement received the scrutiny required under domestic law.
Legal challenge targets arrangement
The complaint filed with the administrative court in Yaoundé seeks to suspend further implementation of the arrangement while its legality is examined, require the government to clarify the applicants’ legal status and prevent their onward removal to countries where they could face serious danger.
AFP reported that Cameroon-based lawyer Joseph Awah Fru said the migrants wanted permission to remain legally in Cameroon rather than face repatriation to their home countries.
The group includes people originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Angola, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Senegal, Zimbabwe and Morocco. They were transferred from the United States to Cameroon between January and May 2026.
According to Awah Fru, the migrants are living at a centre managed by Cameroonian authorities where the International Organization for Migration provides migration-related support.
He alleges that they have been deprived of identity documents and a clear legal status and are subject to restrictions on movement.
Details of the reported arrangement have not been made public.
Court protections face new test
AFP reported, citing the migrants’ lawyer, that all 36 had received US court protection against removal to their countries of origin.
Earlier AP reporting independently established that eight members of an initial group of nine deportees had orders preventing their return because they feared persecution or torture. That distinction remains important until the full court filing or individual records are made public.
Protection from removal to a particular country does not automatically grant permanent US status. US Justice Department guidance says withholding of removal prevents return to the home country but may still allow removal to a third country where the person’s life or freedom would not be threatened.
Lawyers representing affected migrants argue that the policy can become a legal loophole when people are transferred to states where their status is unclear and where they may eventually be pressured to return home.
The lawsuit follows a second US deportation flight carrying third-country nationals to Cameroon, which landed in Yaoundé in February and intensified concern about the secrecy surrounding the transfers.
