U.S. Immigration Deportees Held in Secret #African Detention Facility.

Uganda—Fifteen migrants the U.S. deported to Cameroon in recent weeks are being held in prisonlike conditions at a secret detention facility, according to lawyers for some of the deportees.

The individuals are barred from leaving or receiving visitors. Plainclothes security officers guard the detention center, a Ministry of Social Affairs office building in Yaoundé, the capital of the Central African country.

Cameroonian police this week arrested four journalists—including three on assignment for the Associated Press, an American news agency—who entered the compound to interview the migrants, according to the AP and their lawyers. The AP said one journalist was slapped after being detained, but didn’t receive serious injuries.

The first nine deportees arrived at Yaoundé airport from a Louisiana detention center last month. Eight more, including migrants from Ghana, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and Senegal, arrived Monday, according to Cameroonian lawyer Joseph Awah Fru, who represents about half of the group.

Two Moroccan women chose to be deported from Cameroon to their home country, leaving 15 migrants spending their days inside dormitories, some in tears, according to lawyers and local activists.

“They are in distress,” said Fru. “They don’t have any identification documents on them. Many did not even know they were being brought to Cameroon.”

Under U.S. immigration law, migrants judged to be in danger of persecution in their home countries would only be sent to a third country if an immigration court issues a special order to that effect. A U.S. lawyer working with Fru says a court had previously barred the government from sending the migrants to their home countries, and the government did not give them the required opportunity to contest deportation to Cameroon.

A State Department spokesperson did not address questions from The Wall Street Journal about the legal status of the migrants being held in Yaoundé.

Being in the U.S. illegally is a civil offense under American law, and not punishable by imprisonment.

Alma David, the U.S. attorney working with Fru, said their clients had demonstrated to a U.S. immigration court that they faced a greater-than-50% chance of being persecuted back home. The court, David said, then issued orders, called “withholding of removal,” barring the government from sending them home.

“The U.S. deported them to Cameroon without giving them notice, or—for those who were given notice—without giving them an opportunity to explain why they were afraid of being sent there,” David said. “Cameroon clearly does not want them there.”

Fru accompanied a small group of journalists to the facility this week.

As the journalists interacted with the migrants, uniformed police barged in and detained the lawyer and four journalists. Police confiscated their cameras, laptops and phones.

A freelance journalist who was outside when the officers arrived described the arrests as “brutal.”

Police accused the journalists of illegally obtaining sensitive government information, according to Fru, who also represents the journalists. The journalists were released after hours in custody, but the police are still holding their equipment, Fru said.

A police spokesman couldn’t be reached for comment.

Neither the U.S. nor Cameroonian governments has revealed the terms of any agreement to house U.S. deportees. “We have no comment on the details of our diplomatic communications with other governments,” a State Department spokesperson said.

When news of the deportees’ presence broke, some Cameroonians took the opportunity to criticize the government of 93-year-old President Paul Biya, now serving his eighth five-year term.

“Paul Biya has turned the country into a receptacle for African migrants expelled by Donald Trump—none of whom are Cameroonian and thus were sent against their will to Yaoundé,” Nathalie Yamb, a prominent Cameroonian activist, posted on social media.

Cameroon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs couldn’t be reached for comment. In a telephone conversation in November, Biya and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed deepening the partnership between their countries, according to the U.S. side.

Exclusive: Rwanda’s Paul Kagame recently called Sen. Lindsey Graham to help block potential White House sanctions over a broken Trump-brokered peace deal. Graham made the case, and the sanctions were shelved.

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‘At peace to have my son buried in my country’: Father of Tumbler Ridge victim prepares to bury son in Zambia.

Now, the father of three, is preparing to bury this son – Abel Mwansa Jr., who was one of the victims of Tuesday’s massacre.

“I want my son to be remembered as a brave one,” Mwansa Sr. told CTV News in an interview at his home.

“I wake up and walk to the living room and kitchen. I’m thinking he’s still sleeping.”

Knowing that his 12-year-old son will never wake up is a reality he is trying to come to terms with.

Mwansa Sr. says his unwavering faith – even as it’s being tested – is helping him do that.

“The owner of that life is God,” he says, admitting that he has periods when he’s “breaking down and cry(ing) inside” because of the connection that he had with his son.

Mwansa Sr. describes his son as being the perfect big brother, never hesitating to take care of the eight-month-old baby in the family or his sister.

“He was always protective. He was always trying to make sure that people around him are safe. That’s the kind of boy he was,” he says.

Mwansa Jr. had dreams of being a scientist, engineer, or soccer player, Mwansa Sr. said, as he held up a collection of soccer medals. He kept a collection of his son’s belongings nearby: a pair of ice skates, a laptop, pottery and a replica truck made from wood, with a hitch he decided his father needed.

“He made this to inspire me, to buy the towing hitch,” Mwansa Sr. said.

Etched in his mind is his son’s smile.

“He can give you the best smile that you’ve ever seen. He had such a beautiful smile,” Mwansa Sr. said.

“A smile is the perfect medicine that all of us human beings need. I tried (to make) my son be deliberate about smiling.”

Now, three years after they came to #Canada from #Zambia, he never imagined his son’s life would end this way.

‘Money bouquets’ rival traditional flowers as coveted tokens of love for Valentine’s Day in #Zimbabwe.

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Liquidity as affection and trash as a symbol of enduring love. From bouquets fashioned from dollar bills to heart-shaped gifts forged from recycled scrap metal, romance in Zimbabwe is taking strikingly inventive forms, reflecting life in an economy where cash reigns supreme and sustainability gains new social value.

You can’t buy love, the saying goes. But from florists in traditional markets to social media sellers angling for attention on TikTok, dollar bills rolled and pinned together to resemble a floral bouquet are increasingly rivaling fresh flowers as Valentine Day’s most coveted tokens of appreciation in the southern African country.

“Please God, make my lover see this,” commented one TikTok user under a video advertising glittering cash-and-flower arrangements. “May this bouquet locate me in Jesus name, amen,” wrote another.
Cash as courtship

At a decades-old flower market in the capital, Harare, Tongai Mufandaedza, a florist, patiently assembled one such “money bouquet.” Using adhesive and bamboo sticks, he folded crisp $50 notes into decorative cone shapes, weaving them with stems of white roses.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, he expects business to surge.

“The market has improved because of the money bouquets,” said Mufandaedza, who has worked at the country’s biggest flower market for three decades.

“On Valentine’s Day, we are going to have more, more, more customers, because this is something which is trending. Everyone wants to impress,” he said, then patched the arrangement in bright red wrapping and ribbons.

Among those browsing the market was Kimberleigh Kawadza. Her preference was clear.

“The person who came up with the trend, I just need to give them a hands up. They did a good job,” said the 23-year-old. “It’s a way of appreciating my partner, it’s a 100 for me, it’s a 100.”
Practical romance

While Generation Z is driving the craze, Mufandaedza said demand is spreading across generations. Some parents, he added, are even buying money bouquets for their daughters “so that they don’t fall into peer pressure and get tempted to go for sugar daddies who can lure them with such gifts.”

Prices vary widely. Smaller bouquets may contain as little as $10, while larger arrangements can run into the thousands. In some cases, they are even cheaper than traditional floral gifts.

A bouquet of dollar notes with a value of US$10 costs $25, while a bouquet of 10 good-grade red roses costs between $35 and $40, he said. Many ask “where is the money?” if Mufandaedza delivers a bouquet of flowers without a cash design, he said.

Unlike traditional floral gifts, the appeal of money bouquets is as practical as it is romantic for Zimbabwe’s economic realities, where liquidity often carries more immediate value than luxury.

“People still love flowers, but when they see the notes on top, the love feels hotter and the gesture even more meaningful. Survival matters more in these difficult times and money plays a bigger role,” he said.

The U.S. dollar has dominated transactions since hyperinflation forced authorities to abandon the local currency in 2009. Although Zimbabwe has since reintroduced its own currency, the dollar remains legal and dominant.

With crisp notes scarce, worn and tattered U.S. bills, sometimes jokingly referred to as “war veterans,” are hardly suitable for decorative bouquets, spawning spin-off businesses of enterprising traders who supply clean replacement notes at a commission.

Zimbabwe isn’t alone in flirting with the fusion of cash and courtship. Money bouquets have also surged in popularity elsewhere in Africa, including Kenya, one of the world’s largest flower exporters.

Before Valentine’s Day, Kenya’s central bank warned of stiff penalties of up to seven years in prison for folding, stapling or gluing banknotes into bouquets, arguing that damaged currency disrupts cash-handling systems and violates laws against defacing money. The directive sparked lively debate online, with critics accusing regulators of overreach.
Love from scrap

Back in Zimbabwe, no such restrictions exist. But for some, love is finding expression not just through cash, but through trash recycled into keepsakes.

At an upscale shopping center in Harare, aluminium heart-shaped key rings, necklaces, platters and wine holders crafted from reclaimed scrap were lined up next to chocolates and gift boxes in Simpli Simbi, a decor and gift shop. “Simbi” means metal in the local Shona language.

“We are taking something that was unloved before, polishing it up and making it beautiful again towards a gift to someone that they can treasure forever,” said Stephanie Charlton, founder of the shop.

Charlton said that her customer base, once dominated by tourists and diaspora Zimbabweans, is increasingly local because of rising environmental awareness.

In an industrial area nearby, her foundry was stacked with discarded car radiators, rims and scrap metal collected from roadsides and landfills, before being melted in an open furnace and transformed into handmade gifts.

“Women love chocolates and flowers, but they are here today, gone tomorrow,” said Charlton, a former horticulture exporter who now employs 20 people.

“This is something that we have collected that would be filling up a landfill. But we have made it into something beautiful that you can give to (your valentine), show them that you treasure them. There is a meaning behind it, there is a story to be told with each piece.”

___

Farai Mutsaka, The Associated Press

Associated Press writer Evelyne Musambi contributed to this report from Nairobi, Kenya.

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with #philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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