Oct. 7 Candlelight Vigil in D.C.: Cameroonian Dead in ICE Custody

Monday, October 7, 2019 at 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM EDT

500 12th St SW, Washington, DC 20024
Hosted by Cameroon American Council

From #CameroonCrisis to #BorderCrisis: Cameroonian Immigrant Dead in ICE Custody

**Please donate to help offset event costs, thanks! https://www.gofundme.com/f/takembeng-take-over ***

On Tuesday, a Cameroonian immigrant, Nebane Abienwi, 37, died in ICE custody. Over the past year, 9 people have died in ICE custody, many of whom were denied medical treatment or taken for treatment too late. As civil turmoil in Cameroon carries on, asylum seekers and refugees from Cameroon are gathering at the Southern border to the US in order to seek entry. His death is not an isolated incident. The UN has called the Cameroon crisis one of the worst in the world, and hundreds of Cameroonian asylum seekers are trapped in Mexico. The US House of Representatives have taken action and passed a resolution on Cameroon and a bi-partisan senate resolution 292 has been introduced and needs the attention of all senators. We must stand up to the US government and ICE to demand that the camps are closed, aslyum protocols are reinstated, and as we work for detainees to be released, they must receive medical care.

This Monday, October 7, join us for a candelight vigil outside the ICE headquarters in DC. Together, we will pay tribute to the memory of Abienwi, who died young and unfree in our nation’s cruel detention system. We will be convening on the sidewalk in front of ICE headquarters. Candles provided. Please share widely.

The event is located just three blocks south of the Smithsonian metro (blue/orange/silver lines) and about a 5-7 minute walk from L’Enfant plaza.

Get yourself informed:

About Abienwi’s death: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/man-dies-ice-custody-san-diego-cameroon-san-ysidro

About the situation at the Southern border: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/world-refugee-day-fleeing-cameroon-mexico-border-corpses-180616131149367.html

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/30/weve-been-taken-hostage-african-migrants-stranded-in-mexico-after-trumps-crackdown

https://psmag.com/social-justice/people-are-being-killed-like-flies-denied-asylum-in-the-u-s-cameroonians-fear-increasing-violence-back-home

Donate to support Cameroonian immigrants and asylum seekers:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/takembeng-take-over

Change.org petition to come!