US Edition
AP journalist detained in Cameroon while reporting on U.S. deportees
Five detained journalists and lawyer were released after police seized their equipment citing sensitive government information linked to a secretive U.S. migrant deportation program.
- On Feb 17, an Associated Press reporter was beaten and briefly detained in Yaounde alongside three other journalists and lawyer Joseph Awah Fru while interviewing deportees at a state-run compound, with freelance journalist Randy Joe Sa'ah describing it as `an extremely stressful experience.`
- The compound was reported as a detention centre for African migrants recently deported from the U.S. by the Department of Homeland Security, raising the total to 17 deportees with withholding-of-removal protections.
- Authorities separated and interrogated the journalists at the judicial police headquarters, where some were held in a cell for hours and police confiscated phones, cameras and laptops.
- All five detainees were later freed, but Cameroon's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and police headquarters did not respond to requests, and the U.S. State Department could not be reached.
- A federal court ruling on third‑country deportations challenges US policies, as migrants in Cameroon face pressure from local authorities to return or face indefinite detention, human‑rights observers say.
26 Articles
26 Articles
Abuses in Cameroon After US Deports Third-Country Nationals
Click to expand Image Cars drive through an intersection near a monument in Yaoundé, Cameroon, September12, 2025. © 2025 Welba Yamo Pascal/AP Photo Cameroonian authorities are arbitrarily detaining non-Cameroonian nationals deported from the United States and detaining and abusing journalists who tried to interview them. But US President Donald Trump’s administration doesn’t seem to care.In January and February, under a secret agreement, the U…
According to WP, local law enforcement officers confiscated their phones, laptops and cameras from the media.
The spokesman-Review
The Washington Post4 journalists detained in Cameroon reporting on Trump’s deportations
Four journalists, including three working for the Associated Press, were detained in Cameroon on Tuesday while reporting from a facility where migrants deported by the Trump administration are held, according to one of the detained journalists and two lawyers advocating for the deportees.
AP journalist detained in Cameroon while reporting on U.S. deportees
An Associated Press journalist was beaten by police and briefly detained alongside three other reporters and a lawyer in Yaounde while attempting to interview Africans recently deported from the United States, two sources told Reuters.
Journalists Detained Amid Deportation Chaos in Cameroon
An AP journalist and others were detained in Yaounde while covering deportations from the U.S. Their equipment was seized, and they faced stress and intimidation. The Trump administration's deportation policy led to a complex situation involving various African nations accepting deportees.
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