The Independent (Banjul)
Alieu Darboe
29 March 2004
Banjul — The fate of 16 foreigners arrested in Brikama by the Immigration Enforcement Unit in Brikama for staying in the country illegally still hangs in the balance as they continue to be held.
The 16 non-Gambians were arrested on Tuesday March 16 as part of the Immigration routine drive to rid the country of what its officials called illegal aliens who have added to the congestion and crime.
According to eyewitnesses, the enforcement unit without warning raided shops and other areas of the Brikama market and arrested foreigners who were found without the required or relevant documents that guaranteed them to stay in the country.
The immigration whose personnel previously came under a barrage of criticism for heavy-handedness reportedly conducted this latest operation with polite care and precision, leaving eyewitnesses applauding the raid as timely and necessary to force foreigners without the required documents to regularize their immigration status in the country.
The raid reportedly took two hours and forced those not caught to surrender themselves in a bid to regularise their status.
When this reporter arrived at the scene, he found a waiting Gele-Gele van with registration number GID 6 parked around the Brikama Magistrate Court complex full of foreigners including Senegalese, Guineans and other nationals. He was however, prevented from interviewing them while the raid was in progress.
An immigration officer told The Independent on condition of anonymity said the raid was in pursuance of the Immigration Act, conducted in order to regulate the residential status of foreigners. He said the operation was conduct in a careful manner to avoid any undue embarrassment or harm to those targeted in the raid. Asked whether any action will be taken against those caught, the officer answered in the negative saying "I am not in a position to say anything other than the fact that we only want them to pay their alien taxes".
One Lamin Jallow a foreigner who had regularised his status by the turn of the year reasoned with all foreigners to do the same if they expect to live comfortably in the country without crossing path with the Immigration Enforcement Unit.
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