After a U.S.-based lawyer alerted the AP that a group of migrants had been deported from the United States to Cameroon despite protection orders from immigration judges, West Africa correspondent Monika Pronczuk launched a cross-border investigation into the opaque arrangement.
Reporting from Dakar and coordinating closely with text, photo and video colleagues, Pronczuk worked to identify the deportees, verify their legal status and understand the terms of the transfer. Freelancers in Cameroon — Nalova Akua, Ndal Arnold and Angel Ngwe — assisted with on-the-ground reporting despite significant obstacles.
While attempting to report near the detention facility, the journalists were briefly detained by police and had equipment confiscated. Blocked from direct access, Pronczuk continued reporting remotely and interviewed a gay Moroccan woman from an earlier deportation group through her U.S. attorney.
In a rare firsthand account, the woman described being sent to a country where she felt unsafe and ultimately returning to Morocco, where she now lives in fear. The reporting illuminated the legal gray areas surrounding third-country deportations and the risks faced by LGBTQ migrants sent to nations where homosexuality is criminalized.
Judges praised the persistence, cross-border coordination and courage required to report under pressure and document a policy with profound human consequences.
For exposing the human toll of controversial deportation practices through determined and risky reporting, Monika Pronczuk, Nalova Akua, Ndal Arnold and Angel Ngwe win this week’s Best of AP — First Winner.
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