Secret Cameroon Deportation Agreement and Torture of Deportees
The US secretly deported 17 people from 9 African countries to Cameroon under a covert agreement, including people with US court protections against return to their home countries. Cameroon detained them without legal basis, and journalists attempting to document conditions were arrested. HRW says the transfers to a country with a record of torture in detention breach the prohibition on refoulement.
Record summary
Grade
Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation
International crime
No international crime alleged
Documented violations of internationally recognized human rights that cause substantial, measurable harm to identifiable populations. Scale and definitions
- Status
- Ongoing
- Incident date
- Record updated
- Location
- Yaounde, Cameroon
- Category
- Deportation to Torture
- Legal posture
- Reported
- ICC relevance
- No
- Sources
- 5 cited
- Stable ID
cameroon-deportee-torture- Legal basis
- CAT Article 3 (absolute non-refoulement to torture), Refugee Convention Article 33 (binding on the US through the 1967 Protocol), ICCPR Articles 7 and 9
- Posture note
- HRW has documented the abuses and called for an end to the agreement. The agreement itself is not public. Federal courts have ruled third-country deportations unlawful in related cases, but the Cameroon-specific agreement has not been the subject of a dedicated court order.
- Victims
- 17 deportees from 9 African countries deported to Cameroon, including asylum seekers with court-ordered protections and at least one stateless person; journalists attempting to document conditions
- Alleged responsible parties
- US government (ICE, DHS, State Department) for initiating deportations under a secret agreement; Cameroonian authorities for the detention of deportees and the arrest of journalists
Key points
- Under a secret agreement, the US deported 17 people from 9 African countries (Angola, DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe) to Cameroon in January-February 2026.
- Deportees included asylum seekers with court-ordered protections against deportation and at least one stateless person.
- Cameroonian authorities detained the deportees on arrival despite having no legal basis to do so; 15 remained detained in Yaoundé as of February 20, 2026, and two had already returned to their countries of origin.
- Deportees told a lawyer they felt pressured to return to their countries of origin, which HRW describes as a refoulement risk.
- On February 17, 2026, four journalists and a lawyer for the detainees were arrested outside the detention compound; media reports allege at least one journalist was beaten.
- Several deportees had court-ordered protections against return to their home countries due to fear of persecution or torture.
What Happened
In January and February 2026, under a secret agreement between the United States and Cameroon, the US deported 17 people to Cameroon who were nationals of nine different African countries: Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe. None were Cameroonian nationals.
The deportees included asylum seekers, individuals with court-ordered protections against return to their home countries due to fear of persecution or torture, and at least one stateless person. By sending them to Cameroon rather than their countries of origin, the US circumvented judicial orders prohibiting their deportation to those countries.
Treatment on Arrival
Human Rights Watch (February 20, 2026) and the Global Detention Project report:
- Arbitrary detention: Cameroonian authorities immediately detained the deportees despite having no legal basis for doing so. Cameroon has no dedicated immigration detention facilities; the deportees were held in a compound in Yaoundé. Fifteen remained detained as of February 20; two had already returned to their countries of origin.
- Pressure to return: A lawyer assisting some deportees said UN agency representatives spoke to them about seeking asylum in Cameroon, but the deportees said they felt pressured to return to their countries of origin, the places US courts had barred their removal to.
This entry previously stated that gendarmes beat deportees with batons at Douala airport and that HRW documented torture, rape and enforced disappearances of these deportees. HRW's report does not document those abuses against this group; its references to torture concern Cameroon's general record and Cameroonian asylum seekers deported by the US in earlier years. Those statements have been removed.
Journalists Detained
On February 17, 2026, four journalists and a lawyer representing the detainees were arrested outside the Yaoundé compound. Media reports allege that at least one journalist was beaten and that phones, cameras and laptops were confiscated before their release. HRW describes the journalists as detained and abused. The suppression of press coverage obscures the conditions of detention and impedes accountability.
Secret Agreement
The deportation agreement between the US and Cameroon has not been made public. Unlike some other third-country agreements (such as Rwanda, which was documented at $7.5 million), the terms, financial arrangements, and scope of the Cameroon deal remain secret.
Cameroon's Own Human Rights Record
Cameroon is a particularly dangerous destination for deportees. For years, parts of the country have been wracked by violence and armed conflict. The Anglophone crisis in the Northwest and Southwest regions has involved systematic government repression, and armed groups and government forces have committed widespread abuses including torture in detention, extrajudicial killings, and attacks on civilians.
The US State Department's own human rights reports document significant problems in Cameroon, including arbitrary arrest, prolonged pretrial detention, and torture by security forces.
Why This Entry Is Graded Severe
No international crime is shown: the transfers raise refoulement concerns under human rights law (CAT Article 3), not Rome Statute crimes.
- Refoulement risk: HRW says Cameroon is unsafe for deportations given its record of torture in detention, and that deportees are being pressured to return to the countries US courts barred their removal to
- Circumvention of court orders: Deportees with judicial protection against return to their home countries were sent to a third country to evade those orders
- Stateless person deported: A person with no nationality was sent to a country where they have no legal existence
- Secret agreement: The terms of the arrangement are hidden from public scrutiny
- Press suppression: Journalists documenting conditions were detained
- Known danger: Cameroon's human rights record is well-documented by the State Department and international organizations
- Part of systematic pattern: This is one documented outcome of the broader third-country deportation system
International law engaged
| Instrument | Provision | What it protects or prohibits |
|---|---|---|
| Convention Against Torture | Article 3 | Absolute prohibition on transferring persons to states where there are substantial grounds for believing they would be subjected to torture |
| 1951 Refugee Convention | Article 33 | Non-refoulement -- prohibition on expulsion to countries where life or freedom would be threatened |
| ICCPR | Articles 7, 9 | Prohibition on torture and cruel treatment; right to liberty and security of person |
Independent legal analysis
- Abuses in Cameroon After US Deports Third-Country Nationals Human Rights Watch
- Cameroon Third-Country Deportation and Detention Scheme Explained Global Detention Project
Update log
-
Corrected after ICC-standard legal review: removed claims that gendarmes beat deportees with batons and that HRW documented torture, rape and enforced disappearances of these deportees (HRW does not; the baton claim came from a low-reliability secondary source); dated the journalists' arrest to February 17 per the Global Detention Project; removed treaty rows the US is not party to or that do not apply.
Sequence of events
-
HRW warns US-Africa expulsion deals flout rights
Human Rights Watch publishes a comprehensive report documenting how US third-country deportation agreements with African nations including Rwanda, Eswatini, Ghana, South Sudan, and others expose deportees to arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and refoulement.
-
UN Special Rapporteur submission on third-country deportations
Human Rights Watch submits evidence to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants documenting the pattern of abuses resulting from US third-country deportation agreements across Africa.
-
First deportation flight to Cameroon under secret agreement
The US deported a group of non-Cameroonian nationals to Cameroon under a secret agreement, despite many having pending asylum claims or court-ordered protections against return to their home countries. Cameroonian authorities detained them on arrival.
-
Second deportation flight reported
Reporting revealed that nine migrants had been deported to Cameroon in secret in January, and a second group arrived in February.
-
Journalists and lawyer arrested outside detention compound
Four journalists and a lawyer representing the detainees were arrested outside the Yaoundé compound where deportees were held. Media reports allege at least one journalist was beaten and that equipment was confiscated before their release.
-
Human Rights Watch publishes findings
HRW reported that Cameroon was arbitrarily detaining the deportees, that 15 remained detained in Yaoundé, and that journalists who tried to interview them had been detained and abused. It said the US violated international law by deporting people to a country with risks of torture and refoulement, and called for their return and an end to third-country deportation agreements.
Sources
- Abuses in Cameroon After US Deports Third-Country Nationals — Human Rights Watch Capture lost in the August 2026 host failure — SHA-256 cc277b7bc298276824c657da5b5a78c9e12c094a63e9014e03afafbf66d4e578 preserved in the signed manifest. Wayback copy (third-party archive copy, not our capture)
- Cameroon Third-Country Deportation and Detention Scheme Explained — Global Detention Project Capture lost in the August 2026 host failure — SHA-256 a69d29c20f87d575b607b13954bddf35f3b5085b834f97560306eee4d003b12a preserved in the signed manifest. Wayback copy (third-party archive copy, not our capture)
- US Deports Nine Migrants in Secret, Ignoring Legal Protections — GV Wire Capture lost in the August 2026 host failure — SHA-256 80bb68cdbb540bfcdfeed36c07124d3681ae5a3b3c6c958ae27087e97eae4a5f preserved in the published evidence index. Wayback copy (third-party archive copy, not our capture)
- US/Africa: Expulsion Deals Flout Rights — Human Rights Watch Capture lost in the August 2026 host failure — SHA-256 a6246047448cccb70f7315653b721714da6524aa1608d44155266d4f9de9aa60 preserved in the signed manifest. Wayback copy (third-party archive copy, not our capture)
- Journalists Detained in Cameroon Expose the Darkness Around Trump's Third-Country Deportation Deals — Critiq archived