5 Cameroonians fear deportation

ATTORNEYS for five Cameroonians intend to take legal action against the Immigration Division if their clients are deported before the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) determines their application for refugee status.

The five fled their home country, after allegedly being threatened with death by military forces there, and were detained by immigration officials at Piarco International Airport in November. They lost their appeals for entry into Trinidad and Tobago both to the division and the Minister of National Security.

They applied for refugee status so they can be relocated to a country the UNHCR deems suitable for them. Interviews were done between December and last week.

However, attorney Om Lalla said on Friday, although they were still waiting for a decision from the UNHCR, the five were “forcibly” removed from the Immigration Detention Centre in Aripo and taken to the Airport Suites Hotel to be deported back to Cameroon.

Lalla said the division was fully aware the five are “political refugees who have been fleeing the threat of death from their homeland.

“The harsh and inhumane modus to inform them they will be sent back to Cameroon without any explanation or reason is oppressive and contrary to the fundamental rights of all persons.”

He said allowing the Refugee Agency to interview them was significant and the division should hold its hand on deporting them until a decision was given. Lalla wants to know whether a decision was made to ignore the process of the UNHCR. He also wants to know when a decision on their refugee status application is given

He said the “clandestine approach” by the immigration division was contrary to TT’s Constitution and rule of engagement for non-nationals.

Lalla said although the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol were not enacted in law, since TT was a signatory, they should be respected.

“It is disingenuous to engage in a process to let my clients believe that there is a fair and transparent process.”

He also complained that his clients have not been allowed to speak with their attorneys and said “simple due-process courtesy” would avoid unnecessary trauma to them.

Lalla said the conduct of the decision only sought to undermine the integrity of the immigration authority in TT and how it deals with non-nationals.

He also wants the division to confirm whether the five will be deported and intends to approach the court for relief soon if he does not receive a prompt response.

Also appearing with Lalla for the five are Ilisha Manerikar and Aaron Mahabir.

One refugee is a 30-year-old law graduate who ran a restaurant business before armed forces arrested her on “baseless allegations” that she was engaged in a relationship with Ambazonian fighters, one of the main separatist groups in Cameroon's English-speaking western regions.

The attorneys claimed she was arrested multiple times, tortured, denied medical care and her business was even set on fire. The location of her family is unknown and it is believed that they were killed.

Another refugee and his son were both arrested and tortured because they sold cosmetic products from their store to English and French quarters of the country.

“They were tortured and detained by the military for weeks on end in dark cells and witnessed heinous killings. They fear that they too will die at the hands of the armed forces in Cameroon, as they suspect their family have been,” they said in a previous letter in November.

The other two asylum-seekers were reportedly also arrested, tortured, and witnessed the murders of their family members and neighbours.