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.

A journalist working for the Associated Press, along with three other reporters and a lawyer, experienced police brutality and brief detention in Yaounde. They were attempting to interview Africans recently deported from the United States, according to two sources speaking to Reuters. Their equipment was confiscated and remains unreleased, and they were taken by plainclothes police officers to judicial authorities after trying to film the deportees' facility, sources confirmed.

"It was an extremely stressful experience," freelance journalist Randy Joe Sa'ah recounted, after a short detainment. "The situation escalated surprisingly fast, making us feel like our only wrong was being present where people were detained," he added.

The Associated Press declined to make any comments. Cameroon's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and police also did not respond to requests for feedback. Meanwhile, deportees from various countries, including Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and others, remain in Cameroon as the country has not revealed its participation in the U.S. administration's deportation strategy.

(With inputs from agencies.)