Going Beyond the TPS in the Context of the Cameroon Anglophone Crisis
In April 2022, the United States government designated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Cameroonians for the next 18 months. This came following persistent calls from some lawmakers and lobbyists on the risk of deporting Cameroonians to their country in the midst of an ongoing conflict in the West of the country which has left close to a million persons internally and externally displaced from their regular place of harbour.
“The US government should suspend deportations to Cameroon because of the serious threats Cameroonians face to their lives and freedom upon return. In addition to generalised risk of serious harm because of violence in the Far North, North-West, and South-West regions, deportees to Cameroon also face a risk of torture and ill-treatment because of their real or imputed opposition to the government,” a statement from Human Rights Watch in December 2020 read.
Following the escalation of the conflict in the two English speaking regions in 2017, it is estimated that thousands of Cameroonians have travelled to the US through illegal routes including the Mexican crossing. Such entries necessitate an expulsion from the US territory back to the country of origin. However, looking at the persistent trend of violence, six lawmakers wrote to President Trump in November 2020 to stop the deportation of these illegal immigrants who were seeking asylum. Despite their arguments, the Trump administration permitted the deportation trip to go through.
In February 2021, 40 Lawmakers, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland wrote to President Biden for a similar action. They argued that deporting activists and asylum seekers to their homeland may be suicidal. 14 months after their request, the Biden administration granted their demands which activists and lobbyists argue are founded on humanitarian grounds.
TPS – At a crossroad of changing lives
According to the US government, TPS which was signed in April became effective beginning June 7. Beneficiaries of this special decision must have been residing in the US before it became effective. On this perspective, new arrivals from Cameroon without regular visa authorisation cannot invoke TPS as a bait to be granted a temporary stay in the US. Nonetheless, the designation of Cameroon for TPS has raised scenes of jubilation mainly among the Cameroonian community in the US and their families at home. Many have spent thousands of dollars to find themselves in the US, sometimes going through the perilous Mexican track, and many families were afraid of the unknown should their love ones be sent back to Cameroon.
Wilfred Teba, a 26-year old Cameroonian who agreed to speak to The Columbus Dispatch argued that TPS has saved him and many others from “death sentence.” Tebah who was already placed on deportation proceedings said, he lived with a constant nightmare seeing the bloodshed in his country and the possibility of him being sent back home. Without regular papers, it also became impossible for him to work and he could only rely on hand-outs from family and friends.
“John” is a 32-year-old Cameroonian who would not disclose his real identity for fear that his family back home could be identified and persecuted. He hails from Lebialem division in the South West region which is one of the cesspit of separatist activities. He left Cameroon in 2020 and spent months traveling through Mexico before setting foot on US soil where life has also revealed its ugly side. “I left Cameroon because of the Anglophone crisis…. And since I arrived, life has not been easy living in the shadows here without full legal paperwork. TPS is the best thing happening to me because I can’t be deported overnight back to Cameroon,” he says. “John” notes that the application procedure is costly thought worth it – “I have applied for it and I must say it’s costly.”
The fear of violence back home may not be the only focus for these illegal immigrants. Majority of them have sold lifetime investments, or borrowed money from families and friends with the hope of a better life in the US which will permit them to work and reinvest back home. “Mary” (not her real name) is a 48-year-old single mother of three in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s political capital. For the past two decades, she has been operating a promising restaurant business in Yaoundé which has enabled her to secure some landed properties. She explains to theowp that she sold her piece of land and raised about USD13,000 (approximately 7 million Francs CFA) which she used in sending her first daughter through a middleman to the US in 2019. Despite its promising outlook for the thousands of Cameroonians, TPS is only a temporary measure which runs for the next 18 months.
TPS – A Humanitarian Victory void of sustainable peace in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions
According to the Federal Register website, TPS runs from June 7, 2022 through December 7, 2023. After this period, beneficiaries would return to their previous status including the same immigration status or category they maintained before the coming into force of TPS, or any other lawfully obtained status during the period of TPS. What is however not fully disclosed is the fact that many Cameroonians would likely be eligible for deportation when TPS is terminated because it is a temporary measure void of a permanent solution or condition.
Moreover, given the avalanche of asylum seeking cases and the war in Ukraine which has orchestrated a rise in refugees round the world, it is likely that many Cameroonians would maintained the same immigration status prior to the application of TPS. This would ensure that many would be declared persona non grata after the termination of TPS and face the risk of deportation. In the inability to resolve the conflict back home, deportation to these persons is translated as a suicide mission given that the very risk to their life persists. It presents another humanitarian situation which can only be curb by a sustainable conflict management solution. Majority of these Cameroonians forcefully travelled because of a push factor and the sustainability of this push factor would produce many more persons wishing to take the risky journey even through the forest of Latin America.
The US government has a strategic leveraging scheme over the international political scene as well as the government of Cameroon which can be employed to harness a sustainable peacemaking and peacebuilding mechanism in the conflict rigged areas of Cameroon. Moreover, some of the frontline separatist leaders are based in the US which presents another leveraging angle. TPS is another humanitarian condition which must be accompanied by adequate political solutions such that its termination ushers in a more concrete status for both the home and receiving countries.
Moreover, the general political climate in Cameroon and the rumoured political transition is a breathing ground for more asylum seekers especially in more stable countries like the US. While this may sound as an early warning signal, the US and international instruments must make an early interjection in order to frustrate a looming mass exodus which may go beyond the current level.
It must also be mentioned that TPS has also opened an avalanche of cases from mainly economic migrants who are invoking a war back home even though many of them are neither directly concerned about it or even know the epicentre of the conflict. An end to such conflicts which is the bases of argument for most Cameroonian migrants becomes a necessity both to the receiving and sending countries.