The Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in the US raises urgent alarm over the treatment of Mauritanian asylum seekers and the proposed deportation of Mauritanian nationals to Uganda. These actions place vulnerable people at serious risk and contradict America’s humanitarian values and legal obligations.

Mauritanians who fled their country did so to escape deep-rooted racial discrimination, the continued practice of slavery, political repression, and economic exclusion. Black Mauritanians remain disproportionately targeted, dispossessed of land, denied equal opportunities, and exposed to abuse with little to no legal protection. Survivors of past ethnic cleansing continue to live in statelessness and hardship, while accountability for these crimes remains absent. At the same time, freedom of speech in Mauritania is rapidly shrinking. Bloggers, journalists, and activists are increasingly arrested and jailed for criticizing government corruption, racial injustice, or religious authorities. This crackdown makes return especially dangerous for those who have spoken publicly or may be perceived as dissenters.

Deporting Mauritanian asylum seekers to Uganda does not offer safety. Uganda faces its own serious human rights concerns, including mistreatment of migrants and weak protections for homosexuals and non-citizens. Sending people to a third country with documented rights violations merely shifts them from one unsafe environment to another.

Mauritanian asylum seekers deserve full constitutional due process in the United States. They are entitled to fair, individualized hearings, access to legal counsel, and a serious evaluation of the real dangers they face if returned.

The Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in the United States calls on U.S. authorities to immediately halt deportations of Mauritanian asylum seekers, reject unsafe third-country transfers, and uphold America’s legal and moral commitment to protect people fleeing persecution.

The Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in the U.S