Latest news with #Cameroonians
Muscat Daily
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Muscat Daily
Cameroon: What keeps 92-year-old President Biya in power?
Yaoundé, Cameroon – 'The best is yet to come'. That is the promise Cameroon's President Paul Biya makes as he runs for an eighth term as head of state. The 92-year-old has had more than 40 years to shape his country's destiny: he has been in power since 1982. If he is re-elected in the next elections on October 12, 2025 the world's oldest head of state could remain in office until shortly before his 100th birthday. Many inhabitants of the central African country no longer believe in a better Cameroon under Biya. Young people in particular – more than 36% of the population is under the age of 18 – lack prospects: unemployment, education, and health care are among their concerns. Why is Biya's regime so durable? One in four Cameroonians lives below the poverty line despite Cameroon's rich natural resources. It has oil, natural gas, aluminium, gold, precious woods, coffee, cocoa and cotton. But the country is still heavily dependent on China's economy, but development aid. Corruption and human rights violations are part of everyday life. Many Cameroonians shrug their shoulders at Biya's renewed candidacy. 'It's no surprise,' student Olivier Njoya tells DW. 'It's just a shame that there are people who don't think about the common good, but only about their own interests.' So how does a politician manage to keep his tight web of power intact for 43 years? Especially since Biya has often spent extended periods abroad in clinics and for recreation in Paris and Switzerland. It is 'striking how good (Biya) is at holding on to power', Christian Klatt, the representative of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Cameroon, tells DW. Voices from within Biya's own camp and from the opposition repeatedly claim that Biya knows how to play his competitors off against each other. 'In recent years, no one has been able to pose a threat to Biya,' says Klatt, adding that no one has ever really succeeded in establishing themselves as Biya's successor, either from within his own ranks or in the largest opposition parties. 'Biya is very good at praising people away, transferring them to other posts,' Klatt says. Could Cameroon see a coup? Particularly in West Africa, disgruntled generals have seized power in coups in the past. Klatt considers such a scenario impossible in Cameroon. 'The military, which is always a risk factor in many other countries, has a strong separation of powers within its own structures. No single group would therefore be strong enough to launch a coup,' he says. Biya's party, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC), has been in power since Cameroon's independence in 1960 and has been led by President Biya since 1982. It' isn't unlikely that Biya will win the election again in the fall, Klatt says. 'His ruling party has many supporters and is best represented throughout the country.' In a short election process, the RDPC could outdo other opposition parties. In the Cameroonian electoral system, a candidate only needs a simple majority to win the election, which greatly benefits Biya. Can opposition unite to unseat Biya? One of those running to succeed Biya is 37-year-old Hiram Samuel Iyodi. One of the youngest presidential candidates, he was nominated by the MP3 (Patriotic Movement for the Peoples' Prosperity) party, which was founded in 2018. 'Young people in particular have the impression that the Cameroonian electoral system is tailored to the ruling party,' Iyodi tells DW. 'We are saying to young Cameroonians: if we all stick together, we can put an end to this regime that is no longer able to respond to the current concerns of the population,' he adds. The opposition parties' efforts over the years to create a counterweight to Biya's candidacy has failed due to differing ideologies and their internal divisions: a political coalition, the Douala Group, collapsed shortly before the deadline for presidential nominations on July 22. Is Biya really in control? Some experts, however, don't see Biya as a strong man but rather as a puppet of a perfidious political system. According to Philippe Nanga, political analyst and human rights activist, real power no longer lies in the hands of the president, but in a small circle of actors led by the president's secretary-general, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh. 'The secretary-general now signs almost all documents that are supposed to come from the president. He is omnipresent on the ground, leads political missions, and resolves internal conflicts within the party. These are tasks that normally fall under the responsibility of the head of state,' Nanga says. According to Nanga, despite his Biya's frail health, he remains the only one who can preserve the unity of the party. 'As soon as someone else officially comes to power, the party will break apart. There are already deep internal divisions,' says Nanga. Some officials are opposed to the president's re-election but don't dare to express this openly for fear of reprisals. How does Biya's regime silence dissent? Many individual journalists, politicians, and activists have been arbitrarily detained and physically assaulted in Cameroon. In its latest annual report, the US-based non-governmental organisation Freedom House refers to attacks on 'independent media, opposition parties, and civil society organisations, which have faced bans and harassment'. Political scientist Ernesto Yene says fear is what maintains the facade of stability in Biya's system. 'Anyone who dares to slam the door is quickly marginalised,' Yene tells DW. 'In reality, everyone is hiding behind Paul Biya's candidacy because it guarantees everyone the preservation of their privileges within the power apparatus. If another candidate were to emerge, the party would run the risk of imploding.' DW
DW
18 hours ago
- Politics
- DW
Cameroon: What keeps 92-year-old President Biya in power? – DW – 07/28/2025
At 92, Paul Biya is already the oldest head of state in the world. He wants to be re-elected in October. The power apparatus is kept stable through harshness and fear of losing privileges. "The best is yet to come." That is the promise Cameroon's President Paul Biya makes as he runs for an eighth term as head of state. The 92-year-old has had over 40 years to shape his country's destiny: he has been in power since 1982. If he is re-elected on in the next elections on October 12, the world's oldest head of state could remain in office until shortly before his 100th birthday. Many inhabitants of the central African country no longer believe in a better Cameroon under Biya. Young people in particular — more than 36% of the population is under the age of 18 — lack prospects: unemployment, education, and health care are among their concerns. One in four Cameroonians lives below the poverty line. Despite Cameroon's wealth of oil, natural gas, aluminum, gold, precious woods, coffee, cocoa and cotton, the country is heavily dependent on China's economy, but also on development aid. Corruption and human rights violations are part of everyday life. Many Cameroonians shrug their shoulders at Biya's renewed candidacy. "It's no surprise," student Olivier Njoya tells DW. "It's just a shame that there are people who don't think about the common good, but only about their own interests." So how does a politician manage to keep his tight web of power intact for 43 years? Especially since Biya has often stayed abroad in clinics and for recreation in Paris and Switzerland. Christian Klatt, office manager of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in Cameroon, told DW it is "striking how good he is at holding on to power." Voices from within his own camp and from the opposition repeatedly claim that Biya knows how to play his competitors off against each other. "In recent years, no one has been able to pose a threat to Biya," says Klatt, adding that no one has ever really succeeded in establishing themselves as Biya's successor, either from within his own ranks or in the largest opposition parties. "Biya is very good at praising people away, transferring them to other posts," Klatt says. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Particularly in West Africa, disgruntled generals have seized power in coups in the past. Klatt considers such a scenario impossible in Cameroon: "The military, which is always a risk factor in many other countries, has a strong separation of powers within its own structures. No single group would therefore be strong enough to launch a coup," he tells DW. Biya's party, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC), has been in power since Cameroon's independence in 1960 and has been led by President Biya since 1982. According to Klatt, it is not unlikely that Biya will win the election again in the fall: "His ruling party has many supporters and is best represented throughout the country." In a short election process, the RDPC could outdo other opposition parties. In the Cameroonian electoral system, a candidate only needs a simple majority to win the election, which greatly benefits Biya. One of those running to succeed Biya is 37-year-old Hiram Samuel Iyodi. He is one of the youngest candidates and was nominated by the MP3 (Patriotic Movement for the Peoples' Prosperity) party, which was founded in 2018. "Young people in particular have the impression that the Cameroonian electoral system is tailored to the ruling party," Iyodi told DW. "We are saying to young Cameroonians: if we all stick together, we can put an end to this regime that is no longer able to respond to the current concerns of the population," he adds. The opposition parties' efforts over the years to create a counterweight to Biya's candidacy failed due to differing ideologies and their internal divisions: a political coalition, the Douala Group, collapsed shortly before the deadline for presidential nominations (July 22). However, some experts do not see Biya as a strong man, but rather as a puppet of a perfidious political system. According to Philippe Nanga, political analyst and human rights activist, real power no longer lies in the hands of the president, but in those of a small circle of actors, led by the president's secretary general, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh. "The secretary-general now signs almost all documents that are supposed to come from the president. He is omnipresent on the ground, leads political missions, and resolves internal conflicts within the party. These are tasks that normally fall under the responsibility of the head of state," Nanga told DW. According to Nanga, despite his Biya's frail health, he remains the only one who can preserve the unity of the party. "As soon as someone else officially comes to power, the party will break apart. There are already deep internal divisions," says Nanga. Some officials are opposed to the president's re-election but do not dare to express this openly for fear of reprisals. Many individual journalists, politicians, and activists have been arbitrarily detained and physically assaulted in Cameroon. In its latest annual report, the non-governmental organization Freedom House refers to attacks on "independent media, opposition parties, and civil society organizations, which have faced bans and harassment." Political scientist Ernesto Yene says fear is what maintains the façade of stability in Biya's system. "Anyone who dares to slam the door is quickly marginalized," Yene told DW. "In reality, everyone is hiding behind Paul Biya's candidacy because it guarantees everyone the preservation of their privileges within the power apparatus. If another candidate were to emerge, the party would run the risk of imploding."
DW
a day ago
- Politics
- DW
Cameroon: What keeps Biya in power? – DW – 07/28/2025
At 92, Paul Biya is already the oldest head of state in the world. He wants to be re-elected in October. The power apparatus is kept stable through harshness and fear of losing privileges. "The best is yet to come." That is the promise Paul Biya makes as he runs for an eighth term as Cameroon's head of state. The 92-year-old has had over 40 years to shape his country's destiny: he has been in power since 1982, and if he is re-elected on October 12, the world's oldest head of state could remain in office until shortly before his 100th birthday. Many inhabitants of the central African country no longer believe in a better Cameroon under Biya. Young people in particular — more than 36% of the population is under the age of 18 — lack prospects: unemployment, education, and health care are among their concerns. One in four Cameroonians lives below the poverty line. Despite its wealth of oil, natural gas, aluminum, gold, precious woods, coffee, cocoa, and cotton, Cameroon is heavily dependent on China's economy, but also on development aid. Corruption and human rights violations are part of everyday life. Many Cameroonians shrug their shoulders at Biya's renewed candidacy. "It's no surprise," student Olivier Njoya tells DW. "It's just a shame that there are people who don't think about the common good, but only about their own interests." So how does a politician manage to keep his tight web of power intact for 43 years? Especially since Biya has often stayed abroad in clinics and for recreation in Paris and Switzerland. Christian Klatt, office manager of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in Cameroon, told DW it is "striking how good he is at holding on to power." Voices from within his own camp and from the opposition repeatedly claim that Biya knows how to play his competitors off against each other. "In recent years, no one has been able to pose a threat to Biya," says Klatt, adding that no one has ever really succeeded in establishing themselves as Biya's successor, either from within his own ranks or in the largest opposition parties. "Biya is very good at praising people away, transferring them to other posts," Klatt says. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Particularly in West Africa, disgruntled generals have seized power in coups in the past. Klatt considers such a scenario impossible in Cameroon: "The military, which is always a risk factor in many other countries, has a strong separation of powers within its own structures. No single group would therefore be strong enough to launch a coup," he tells DW. Biya's party, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC), has been in power since Cameroon's independence in 1960 and has been led by President Biya since 1982. According to Klatt, it is not unlikely that Biya will win the election again in the fall: "His ruling party has many supporters and is best represented throughout the country." In a short election process, the RDPC could outdo other opposition parties. In the Cameroonian electoral system, a candidate only needs a simple majority to win the election, which greatly benefits Biya. One of those running to succeed Biya is 37-year-old Hiram Samuel Iyodi. He is one of the youngest candidates and was nominated by the MP3 (Patriotic Movement for the Peoples' Prosperity) party, which was founded in 2018. "Young people in particular have the impression that the Cameroonian electoral system is tailored to the ruling party," Iyodi told DW. "We are saying to young Cameroonians: if we all stick together, we can put an end to this regime that is no longer able to respond to the current concerns of the population," he adds. The opposition parties' efforts over the years to create a counterweight to Biya's candidacy failed due to differing ideologies and their internal divisions: a political coalition, the Douala Group, collapsed shortly before the deadline for presidential nominations (July 22). However, some experts do not see Biya as a strong man, but rather as a puppet of a perfidious political system. According to Philippe Nanga, political analyst and human rights activist, real power no longer lies in the hands of the president, but in those of a small circle of actors, led by the president's secretary general, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh. "The secretary-general now signs almost all documents that are supposed to come from the president. He is omnipresent on the ground, leads political missions, and resolves internal conflicts within the party. These are tasks that normally fall under the responsibility of the head of state," Nanga told DW. According to Nanga, despite his Biya's frail health, he remains the only one who can preserve the unity of the party. "As soon as someone else officially comes to power, the party will break apart. There are already deep internal divisions," says Nanga. Some officials are opposed to the president's re-election but do not dare to express this openly for fear of reprisals. Many individual journalists, politicians, and activists have been arbitrarily detained and physically assaulted in Cameroon. In its latest annual report, the non-governmental organization Freedom House refers to attacks on "independent media, opposition parties, and civil society organizations, which have faced bans and harassment." Political scientist Ernesto Yene says fear is what maintains the façade of stability in Biya's system. "Anyone who dares to slam the door is quickly marginalized," Yene told DW. "In reality, everyone is hiding behind Paul Biya's candidacy because it guarantees everyone the preservation of their privileges within the power apparatus. If another candidate were to emerge, the party would run the risk of imploding."
First Post
a day ago
- Politics
- First Post
Trump To End Deportation Protection for Cameroonians, Afghans Firstpost Africa
Trump To End Deportation Protection for Cameroonians, Afghans | Firstpost Africa | N18G Trump To End Deportation Protection for Cameroonians, Afghans | Firstpost Africa | N18G The Trump administration has won a federal appeals court ruling allowing it to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 5,000 Cameroonians, despite ongoing conflict and humanitarian crises in the country. The government argues conditions have improved and TPS is meant to be temporary, while advocacy group CASA contends Cameroon remains unsafe and accuses the administration of racial bias and procedural violations. The ruling permits deportations to proceed, potentially affecting thousands with U.S.-born children or deep community ties. This decision follows broader efforts to wind down TPS for multiple nationalities as part of Trump's intensified crackdown on undocumented migration. See More
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Afghans in California reeling amid Trump administration travel ban, end of deportation protections
Afghans who relocated to California have been reeling over the past few months and weeks as the Trump administration has moved to end deportation protections amid increasing efforts to further restrict Afghan nationals from coming to the U.S. This week, despite efforts by an organization suing to maintain the protections, the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for Afghans, which the U.S. granted in May 2022 after it withdrew military forces from Afghanistan. The status allowed Afghans to come to the U.S. and obtain work authorization, but it did not provide a pathway to citizenship. 'People are desperate,' said Shawn VanDiver, the founder and president of AfghanEvac, a nonprofit that supports the safe relocation of Afghan allies. 'They've followed all the rules. They've done everything the U.S. asked them to do, and at every corner, the Trump administration has been blocking them.' The Trump administration in January suspended Afghan refugee programs and canceled scheduled flights for Afghans cleared by the government. In May, the State Department sent layoff notices to staff at the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, known as CARE, the agency tasked with working to ensure Afghans got settled into the U.S. with government support. And in June, Trump instituted a travel ban, suspending travel for Afghan nationals to the U.S. and leaving families who had been hoping to reunify stuck in limbo. Afghans have increasingly gotten caught up in the Trump administration's efforts to ramp up deportations. In San Diego, an Afghan national who worked as a translator for the U.S. military and had been granted humanitarian parole was detained after attending an asylum hearing at immigration court. The Department of Homeland Security announced in May that it would terminate Temporary Protected Status for Afghans. Secretary Kristi Noem said conditions in Afghanistan 'do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation.' In a press release, the department said: 'The Secretary determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing-armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions.' Many organizations that help relocate Afghans criticized the move, saying conditions in Afghanistan, now under the Taliban, are not safe for those who fled, especially for those who assisted the U.S. military during the war. Casa, a national advocacy organization, filed a lawsuit against DHS, challenging the end of TPS for Afghans, as well as for Cameroonians, as unlawful. On Monday, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion by Casa to postpone the agency's actions. The case remains ongoing in U.S. District Court in Maryland. In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said individuals who arrived on TPS can still apply for asylum and other protections. She said the end of TPS 'furthers the national interest and the statutory provision that TPS is in fact designed to be temporary.' TPS has been a crucial stopgap for Afghans who made it to the U.S. but whose applications for asylum, or for the Special Immigrant Visas granted to Afghans who have worked with the U.S. government, are still pending, caught in major backlogs. Halema Wali, a co-director at Afghans for a Better Tomorrow, a nonprofit that advocates for Afghan refugees in the New York City metropolitan area and has supported families entering the U.S. from Tijuana, said that nearly all of the organization's 800 members are on TPS. 'They are petrified,' Wali said. 'They are not sure how to approach this, and quite honestly, we are scrambling to figure out how we make them safe when the only thing protecting them from deportation is gone.' Global Refuge, an organization that has resettled thousands of Afghans, said that as many as 11,700 Afghans in the U.S. are now vulnerable to deportation, and those who do not have other means to gain legal status or pending applications could lose work authorization. 'Ending TPS does not align with the reality of circumstances on the ground in Afghanistan,' Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, chief executive of Global Refuge, said in a statement. 'Conditions remain dire, especially for allies who supported the U.S. mission, as well as women, girls, religious minorities, and ethnic groups targeted by the Taliban. The anxiety among our Afghan clients is real and growing.' Vignarajah called on Congress to establish a pathway to citizenship for Afghans. California has become home to many Afghan refugees — as many as 58,600 call the state home, more than any other state, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The Greater Sacramento area hosts some 20,000 Afghan refugees, one of the largest communities in the U.S. The city of Fremont, which has a neighborhood known as 'Little Kabul' for its array of Afghan shops and restaurants, raised nearly half a million dollars for its Afghan Refugee Help Fund, launched in 2021, to help newly arrived Afghans. Harris Mojadedi, an Afghan American advocate in the Fremont area, said there is deep uncertainty amid shifting immigration policies. Afghans in the community have started receiving self-deportation notices from DHS, and many are struggling to figure out what comes next. He knows of one Afghan couple, where one spouse has TPS and the other is a U.S. citizen, who are living each day as if it is their last together. Many Afghans are scared to speak out, he said, for fear of government retribution. People have become afraid of dropping their children off at school or calling the police if they are victims of crime, he said. 'Just like we're seeing with other communities, there's a lot of fear in the [Afghan] community,' Mojadedi said, referencing the immigration raids that have largely affected the Latino community. Shala Gafary, an attorney who leads a team focused on legal assistance for Afghans at asylum advocacy nonprofit Human Rights First, said they are still seeing the aftermath of the U.S.' chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, where thousands of Afghans were separated. She has helped families file applications to be relocated to the U.S. and reunite with their families under a program facilitated by the Biden administration. But as soon as Trump entered office, he issued an order suspending U.S. refugee programs and canceled flights scheduled to bring some 1,660 Afghans cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the U.S., including family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel. Gafary and other immigration attorneys are fielding calls every day from families asking what they can do. And she doesn't have an answer for them. She has had to instruct other attorneys — who ask what they should say to their clients — that all they can do is tell Afghan families the truth, that there are no options available. 'Since January, it's been nothing but bad news for the Afghan population,' Gafary said. Back in Afghanistan, thousands living under Taliban rule worry for their futures. Their options for making a life elsewhere have shrunk exponentially, as neighboring nations Pakistan and Iran have begun deporting Afghan refugees en masse, and Trump placed Afghanistan on the U.S. travel ban list earlier this year. For Afghan Americans in California who had eagerly anticipated the arrival of relatives who sought asylum in the U.S., Trump's immigration crackdown has been crushing. One Southern California resident, a 26-year-old Afghan American woman, told The Times that seven of her family members, including her grandmother and several cousins, are now in limbo after having their visas approved but no confirmation that the U.S. will allow them in. They were scheduled to arrive in March from Afghanistan but were not allowed in. The woman, who requested anonymity because she fears repercussions from the Trump administration for her family members still hoping to seek asylum in the U.S., said her family still hopes policy will shift and they will be let in because they have no other option. She said young girls in her family haven't been able to go to school, and another cousin who had been working for an international aid organization is not allowed to work anymore. 'Everyone is holding their breath to see what happens next,' she said. 'The best thing we can do is just hope for the best, do what we can and check in on each other and keep our heads held up high.'
