US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced on Friday that Cameroon will be granted Temporary Protected Status for 18 months.
Rebecca Blackwell / AP
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Rebecca Blackwell / AP
US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced on Friday that Cameroon will be granted Temporary Protected Status for 18 months.
Rebecca Blackwell / AP
Cameroonians living in the United States are being granted Temporary Protected Status for 18 months by the Department of Homeland Security announced.
Only Cameroonians residing in the United States as of Thursday are eligible.
“The United States recognizes the ongoing armed conflict in Cameroon, and we will provide temporary protection to those in need.” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement Friday.
“Cameroon nationals currently residing in the United States are unable to return safely due to extreme violence perpetrated by government forces and armed separatists, and an increase in attacks by Boko Haram. leader, will be able to stay and work in the United States until the conditions are met. The home country is improved,” he said.
The Department has designated TPS for Ukraine in early March, a week after Russia began the attacks. Decision spark criticism on the part of the Biden administration about citizens of other countries in conflict not receiving the same treatment. When the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan, it took the US seven months to issue TPS.
DHS says extremist violence and attacks from Boko Haram led to TPS . designation
TPS applicants must meet all eligibility requirements and undergo background and security checks, DHS said.
According to the US government, a country can receive TPS if it is experiencing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or other unusual or temporary conditions.
As for Cameroon, the ministry said the designation was made in response to extreme violence between government forces and separatists as well as a significant increase in attacks from Boko Haram, a militant group. First came to the world’s attention with the 2014 kidnapping of more than 276 girls in neighboring Nigeria.
The ministry said: “Extreme violence and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure have led to economic instability, food insecurity and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Cameroonians without access to schools, hospitals and other vital services”.
