June 15, 2021 – WASHINGTON, DC – Cameroonian members of immigrant advocacy organization CASA, hold cultural showcase of dance and dress as part of the #WeAreEssential Fast for Freedom to highlight the urgency for TPS for Cameroon. Cameroonians will wear typical dress of their villages and perform cultural dances of their villages. Cameroon immigrants in the United States are not a monolith but they are all fleeing violent country conditions including state sponsored violence, corruption, and COVID. CASA Cameroonian members will join the several dozen fasters of the Fast for Freedom to encourage Congress to utilize the jobs and infrastructure package and budget reconciliation to codify a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented community members.

As President Biden and Congress negotiate what will be included in the jobs and infrastructure package of the president’s Build Back Better plan, Cameroonian immigrants, and other immigrants and allies uplift the urgency to designate Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status.

CASA Cameroonian members will be available for interviews.

Austen will be at the event and available for interviews. In Cameroon, Austen was a teacher but he had to flee because he was outspoken about the injustices perpetrated by the Cameroonian government through the military on the English speaking Cameroonians. Austen’s father and brothers have both been killed since they could not provide information on Austen’s whereabouts after he fled. His wife and child survive day by day back in Cameroon.

Nelson will be at the event and available for interviews. Nelson is from the northwest region of Cameroon but had to leave the country due to his political views. In Cameroon, Nelson was an animal works engineer and worked as a livestock engineer. He was the public relations officer for the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC), a pressure group who sought a peaceful approach to solving the anglophone crisis in Cameroon. All members of SCNC have been declared terrorists with punishment of death.

Charles will be at the event and available for interviews. Charles is a former teacher from Djottin, one of the villages in the Noni Subdivision of the northwest region of Cameroon. He is a graduate from the University of Yaoundé. He holds a double bachelor’s degree in Education and Bilingual (English and French) studies. Before coming to the United States, he was a teacher. He began teaching in 2004. Charles is here because of the political instability in Cameroon.

WHAT: Cameroonian cultural showcase and rally

WHEN: June 16, 2021 – 1:00 PM EST

WHERE: Lutheran Church of the Reformation, DC 212 East Capitol St NE, Washington, DC 20003, just two blocks from the Capitol and the Supreme Court.

WHO: Fasters from CASA and Faith in Action and affected Cameroonian immigrants

RSVP: For more information on the actions, please contact Jenna DeFosse

MORE ON TPS FOR CAMEROON
Cameroonian immigrants and allies call on the Biden Administration and Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas for an immediate 18-month designation of temporary protected status (TPS) for Cameroon. An estimated 38,790 Cameroonian nationals living in the United States could potentially benefit from a TPS designation for Cameroon.

TPS is a statutory status given to nationals of a certain country living in the United States if conditions in the country make return unsafe. The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may designate a country for TPS if conditions in the country meet requirements regarding ongoing armed conflict, natural disasters (including epidemics), or other extraordinary and temporary conditions in the country that temporarily prevent safe return. TPS provides protection from deportation and permission to work in the United States for the duration of the designation.

State sponsored violence, corruption, and COVID has forced Cameroonians out of their homes, and many into the United States, seeking protection. The violence perpetrated by Boko Haram, the Anglophone crisis, the civil and political unrest, economic and humanitarian strife, and the COVID-19 crisis make it temporarily unsafe for its residents.  Allowing one of the most neglected crises on the planet to go unattended leaves too many lives at risk.

• The U.S. State Department has issued a level three travel warning for Cameroon with “Do Not Travel” notices for most regions due to a high risk of carjacking, kidnapping, and armed conflict.
• Human Rights Watch estimates that 3.9 million people in Cameroon living in eight of its ten regions are in need of humanitarian assistance, with over 720,000 people displaced.
• Eighty-nine percent of the half a million internally displaced civilians were displaced due to armed conflict, and a staggering 64 percent of those internally displaced are children under eighteen.