black_alphabet Farah is a 21-year-old gay woman from Morocco. When her family found out about her relationship with another woman, they beat her. They beat her partner. They kicked her out. She fled to another city. Her family found her and tried to kill her. She and her partner got visas to Brazil and trekked through six countries over weeks to reach the U.S. border, where they asked for asylum. She was detained for almost a year — first in Arizona, then in Louisiana. Her asylum claim was denied, but a U.S. immigration judge issued a federal protection order: Farah could not be sent back to Morocco because it would endanger her life. Three days before a hearing on her release, ICE handcuffed her and put her on a plane to Cameroon — a country she had never been to. Homosexuality carries up to five years in prison there. Cameroon prosecutes queer people more aggressively than almost any country on the continent. She was held in a detention facility in Yaoundé. Then flown to Morocco. She is now in hiding. Her lawyer calls third-country deportation a legal loophole — one that bypasses U.S. court orders by routing people through nations with no obligation to honor them. At least seven African countries are accepting deportees under these arrangements. Four journalists reporting this story were detained in Cameroon. Their equipment was confiscated. Full AP investigation linked in comments. . . . . #QueerAsylum #Cameroon #LGBTQRights #ThirdCountryDeportation View all comments