Abuses in Cameroon After US Deports Third-Country Nationals.

Photo by Ahmad Shakir Shamsulbadri on pexels.com 

2026 has barely begun, yet the United States has already carried out a deportation program that places asylum seekers and stateless persons into arbitrary detention in a third country. Under a secret arrangement with Cameroon, seventeen individuals from nine African nations were removed from the United States despite court orders protecting many from returning to their home countries. Upon arrival in Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, the deportees were immediately detained by local authorities without any legal basis and subjected to coercive conditions.

The 2026 removals build on earlier US practices of third-country transfers that bypass domestic protections. Several deportees were ineligible for asylum in the United States but had court-ordered protection against deportation to their home countries due to credible fears of persecution or torture. Because none of them were Cameroonian, sending them there effectively circumvented these legal safeguards. The Trump administration’s approach prioritises speed and enforcement, relying on confidential arrangements with foreign governments and financial incentives to facilitate transfers. Indeed, a Senate oversight report shows that millions of dollars have been allocated to support such agreements, raising serious concerns about transparency and legality.

The scale and nature of these actions highlight serious systemic risks. Although Cameroon is a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, the country has long struggled with armed conflict, political repression, and abuses committed by both state and non-state actors.       

In practice, detention is frequently arbitrary, access to asylum procedures is severely limited, and authorities often push migrants to leave the country and return to their places of origin. In this context, the deportees face significant humanitarian risks, including extortion and  abuse, while having little access to legal assistance or protection mechanisms. Vulnerable individuals, such as stateless persons and asylum seekers fleeing conflict, political persecution, or violence related to sexual orientation, are particularly exposed. Cameroon’s limited institutional capacity to protect refugees, combined with ongoing instability, further heightens these dangers. Indeed, two of the seventeen individuals deported by the United States have already returned to their countries of origin.

These humanitarian risks carry serious legal implications. The principle of non-refoulement, enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the Convention Against Torture, prohibits states from transferring individuals to places where they face a real risk of persecution, torture, or other serious harm. Deporting migrants either to their countries of origin or to a third country, such as Cameroon, where such risks are foreseeable and protection mechanisms are weak, therefore constitutes a violation of these obligations.

Independent scrutiny of the program has also been obstructed. In February 2026, police detained four journalists who were interviewing deportees at the Yaoundé compound where they were being held. According to witnesses, authorities seized the journalists, interrogated them, and confiscated their phones, cameras, and laptops for allegedly capturing “sensitive government information.” One reporter was reportedly struck during the detention. Although the group was released after several hours, the incident highlights broader concerns about press freedom and attempts to limit scrutiny of the program.

These events show that the program operates largely outside transparent oversight. The US government has not disclosed the details of any agreement with Cameroon, and Cameroonian authorities have declined to comment on their diplomatic communications regarding the transfers. 

Accountability is urgently needed. The United States should end deportations to unsafe third countries and review the cases of those already transferred, while Cameroon must release detainees and ensure protection from refoulement. If left unchecked, these practices risk normalising a system in which enforcement overrides fundamental human rights protections.

written by Clara Pescatori