The Trump administration agreed to send about $35 million in military aid to Cameroon’s BIR
The Trump administration agreed to provide about $35 million in military aid for Cameroon’s Rapid Intervention Battalion as part of a package involving Cameroon’s acceptance of non-Cameroonian U.S. deportees, The Wall Street Journal reported. Amnesty International accused the unit of war crimes in 2017. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s top Democrat, placed a hold on the aid.
More context
The Trump administration agreed to send about $35 million in military aid, including armored personnel carriers, to Cameroon’s Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) as part of a deal for the country to accept U.S. deportees who are not Cameroonian, The Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. officials and congressional aides told the Journal the State Department negotiated the aid and deportation arrangement together.
A 2017 Amnesty International report accused the BIR of war crimes in its fight against Boko Haram, saying members beat and drowned detainees and tortured some to death. Cameroon denied abuses at the time. In 2019, Trump’s first administration cut some aid to the unit and removed Cameroon from a U.S.-Africa trade pact over ongoing abuses by its forces.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, placed a hold on the aid earlier this year, delaying the deal for months. In April, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s team told her the administration was moving ahead despite the hold.
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Verifier’s note
The Wall Street Journal reports that the deportation arrangement was brokered alongside military aid to a unit accused of war crimes. Raw Story reports the same deal and explicitly attributes its account to the Wall Street Journal.