I now live in the beautiful county of Prince George’s right next to the capital. I am an organizer for an organization that never stops fighting for the community, CASA. I am here because unfortunately, my home country of Cameroon is not safe. It is hard to stand here and have to relive all the horrible things that happened to me and my community in Cameroon but I am doing it because my people need safety. My people need protection. My people need a chance to stay alive and live their full life without being targeted for who they are.
In Cameroon, I was a teacher. The government forced me to teach while the separatists told teachers they would be targeted if they taught. Before I was targeted, I knew teachers whose fingers were cut off or beheaded with their heads hung on trees for teaching. Teachers were caught between the military and the separatists.
In May of 2019, when I arrived at school one day, the separatists caught and beat me and stole my belongings. They did that because I refused to tell them I would support them. The military, after hearing the separatists had been at school, came to the school and arrested me, other teachers, and students. They took me to a station where I was interrogated. I was locked up for days – without food or water – and tortured every single day.
They went to my family compound to do a search then accused me that they discovered anti-government materials (a flag). I was told I would be transferred to the Central Prison for my region to appear before a military court. At that point, human rights lawyers intervened and bribed the guards so that I would be released. The only reason I was released is because one of the guards recognized me. I had taught his daughter.
After my release, I went to the bush to hide. The military told my lawyer there was a warrant for my arrest. They went to my father’s compound because they thought they would find me there. Because my father would not tell them where I was, they killed him. They then went to find my brother, who was mentally disabled. When he also refused to provide information about my location, he was also killed. Then they burned down the family compound. I knew that I had no choice but to leave; otherwise, I would die. I fled Cameroon.
Cameroon was not safe for me. It was not safe for my brother and father. Many of my Cameroonian brothers and sisters who I have met that managed to escape share the same feeling. We would rather die here than be deported back to a horrendous death at the hands of the vicious and brutal Cameroonian military.
I, therefore, plead with the administration of President Joe Biden to designate urgent TPS for Cameroon.