Cameroon: 36 migrants deported from the United States challenge their transfer in court.

A group of African migrants expelled from the United States to Cameroon is asking the Cameroonian judiciary to examine the conditions of their transfer and detention. A law firm has approached the administrative court in Yaoundé to contest the implementation of the agreement made between the two countries.

The transfers were carried out on four flights that arrived on January 15, February 16, April 29, and May 27, 2026. In total, 36 individuals were sent to Cameroon as part of the American expulsion policy towards third countries, according to monitoring conducted by several organizations specializing in migration issues.

The individuals concerned do not have Cameroonian nationality and, for the most part, had no prior ties to the country. They come from Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe. The documented transfers also include a stateless person and nationals of the Republic of the Congo.

According to their defense, the migrants are being held in a center located in Yaoundé, facing movement restrictions. They are said to be deprived of their identification documents and lack both residence permits and refugee status that would allow them to move or settle legally in Cameroon.

Human Rights Watch had previously condemned, after the initial transfers in January and February, a detention without a clearly established legal basis. The organization stated that the expelled individuals were placed under surveillance immediately without being presented to a court or officially charged.

An American protection that prevented their return to their country

A significant portion of the migrants had obtained protection against expulsion to their country of origin from American courts. Judges had determined that they risked facing persecution, violence, or torture there.

These decisions did not necessarily grant them the right to remain permanently in the United States. However, they prohibited American authorities from sending them back to countries where risks had been acknowledged.

Washington circumvented this issue by transferring them to a third country. This practice involves expelling a person to a country of which they are not a national and with which they often have no family, professional, or cultural ties.

The agreement between Washington and Yaoundé is said to have been concluded through an exchange of diplomatic notes on December 8, 2025. The documents were only made public in June 2026.

Cameroon undertakes to treat the transferred individuals in accordance with its international obligations. It must ensure that they are not sent to a country where they risk persecution or torture, in line with the principle of non-refoulement. Simultaneously, the United States plans to support assisted voluntary return programs.

The International Organization for Migration can thus accompany individuals who agree to return to their country. Some migrants are reported to have already chosen this solution.

However, the majority of those still present in Cameroon oppose returning. They assert that the threats that justified their protection under American law remain, and repatriation would expose them to the same risks.

Their lawyers are now asking the administrative court to determine whether their detention in the Yaoundé center complies with Cameroonian law. They also want the court to rule on the alleged confiscation of their documents, the travel restrictions, and the lack of an individual procedure to define their status.

Cameroonian authorities have communicated little publicly about the treatment of these nationals. During the initial transfers, lawyers and human rights organizations had already condemned the lack of access to the detained individuals and the opacity surrounding the agreement with Washington.

The review of the appeal must establish whether the migrants can request protection in Cameroon, be released under certain conditions, or benefit from another solution rather than returning to their country of origin.