Case: 21-60513 Document: 00516389683 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/11/2022 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED July 11, 2022 No. 21-60513 Lyle W. Cayce Summary Calendar Clerk Joel Agweh Akuchu, Petitioner, versus Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General, Respondent. Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals BIA No. A213 475 405 Before King, Costa, and Ho, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam:* Joel Agweh Akuchu petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’s decision denying him asylum and withholding of removal. The petition is denied. * Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4. Case: 21-60513 Document: 00516389683 Page: 2 Date Filed: 07/11/2022 No. 21-60513 I. Akuchu is a native and citizen of Cameroon who arrived in the United States on November 19, 2019. He conceded removability and filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. 1 Akuchu claimed a fear of future harm in Cameroon due to his political opinion and membership in the particular social groups of “Anglophones who are opposed to marginalization” and “Anglophones who speak against the government.” On April 14, 2018, after a shoot-out occurred in Akuchu’s neighborhood, government forces went door-to-door searching for separatists and sympathizers. They believed that Akuchu was a separatist based on various group chats on his phone, and took him to a police station in Bamenda, Legion. There, they handcuffed him to a pipe, poured water on him, beat the soles of his feet, and spit on him. They further beat him with a machete, the butt of a gun, a stick, and a belt. The next day, April 15, Akuchu’s brother paid a commanding officer so that Akuchu could receive medical attention. Akuchu was escorted to a hospital by two officers who threatened to kill him if he did not reveal where separatist fighters were hiding. Akuchu spent four days in that hospital, until his brother helped orchestrate his escape by encouraging an officer at the hospital to pretend to ignore the escape. Thereafter, Akuchu fled to his uncle’s village, where he stayed for three months. Akuchu’s brother then called him at his uncle’s residence to inform him that a warrant was issued for Akuchu’s arrest. Akuchu’s wife visited him later that week and told him that the military came to their home with that 1 Akuchu has ceased arguing for protection under the Convention Against Torture, so we do not address this issue further. 2 Case: 21-60513 Document: 00516389683 Page: 3 Date Filed: 07/11/2022 No. 21-60513 warrant; the military further threatened his wife that if she did not disclose Akuchu’s whereabouts, they would arrest her, though she was never arrested. The military then went to Akuchu’s uncle’s home, but Akuchu was not there at the time. Akuchu then fled for Douala, and shortly …
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