Human Rights First Welcomes Temporary Protected Status Designation for Ukrainians
WASHINGTON D.C. – Human Rights First welcomes the Biden Administration's Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for citizens of Ukraine and repeats calls for TPS for citizens of Cameroon, Mauritania, and other non-European countries.
Urges Increased Protection for Non-European Refugees
WASHINGTON D.C. – Human Rights First welcomes the Biden Administration’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for citizens of Ukraine and repeats calls for TPS for citizens of Cameroon, Mauritania, and other non-European countries.
“We appreciate the Biden administration’s swift action to protect Ukrainians in the United States from being forced to return to a wartime situation in Ukraine. While the administration commendably moved to ensure the safety of U.S.-based Ukrainians within days of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attacks on their nation, it has unfortunately lagged in protecting citizens of Cameroon, Mauritania, Guatemala, Honduras, and other countries suffering from armed conflict and environmental disasters from deportation,” said Jennifer Quigley, senior director of government affairs.
Human rights and immigrant rights organizations have repeatedly called for TPS designations for several countries from Africa, Central America and Asia that meet the statutory basis for designation. Human Rights First and 164 other organizations called for the Biden Administration to designate TPS for Mauritania more than one year ago. Human rights organizations have repeatedly urged the Biden administration to designate TPS for Cameroon; recently, our colleagues at Human Rights Watch released a report documenting the harms Cameroonian asylum seekers deported by U.S. authorities faced upon return to Cameroon.
“The United States must offer the same level of protection and safety to human beings from Africa, Central America and Asia as it does to Europeans without delay,” said Quigley.
