Gambia: Good Morning Mr President - Consider Plight of Deportees

12 June 2023
The Point (Banjul)
column

Mr President, according to findings and reports from relevant associations and NGOs on the deportation of Gambians from Germany, German authorities have so far deported more than 100 Gambians between November 2018 and March 2019, and from 18 November 2020 to date, eight chartered deportation flights to The Gambia have taken place, while another upcoming chartered deportation flight to The Gambia is scheduled for 20 June 2023, making a total of nine chartered deportation flights to The Gambia.

There have been approximately 25 Gambians on board each of these chartered flights, bringing the total number of Gambians deported to 255, plus 100 in 2018 and 2019, totalling to more than 300 Gambian deportees.

It is also expected that there will be thousands more deportees from Germany to The Gambia, because there are about 4,240 Gambians who no longer have the right to stay in Germany.

Mr President, your government should by all means try and solve this problem diplomatically through diplomatic channels.

Your government should appeal to the EU to stop the deportation of those who are already living in the country and are able to support themselves through integration, vocational training and employment.

Those whose asylum procedures are not yet completed together with those who are socially and economically integrated in their countries and have not committed serious crimes, especially in Germany, where mass deportations of Gambians are carried out every month by chartered deportation flights, should not be deported.

Mr President, your government should be well prepared and ready to receive the deportees and provide them with psychological and financial support so that they can be permanently reintegrated into society.

They should also be given the opportunity to have life skills which will make it easier for them to be reintegrated into the labour market to secure their income and livelihoods.

In conclusion, Mr President, it is essential for the African Union to take up the ongoing deportation matter with the European Union, especially for those who have not committed crime and have stayed in Europe very long to be given amnesty to work and reside peacefully.

It must, however, be noted that there is big security risk for deportees who are returning home.

Good Day!

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