Gambia: 200 Migrants Boast Missing for Nearly 2 Yrs Worries Govt

Islam Alatrash/DW
Libyan authorities trained and funded by the EU to police migration (File photo)
25 July 2023
The Point (Banjul)
By Adama Jallow

The Gambian government through its Foreign Ministry says it's still worried about the whereabouts of a boat that left the shores of the coastal town of Gunjur in 2021 carrying 200 migrants. The boat got missing and its whereabouts is still unknown.

"An unfortunate situation that is still a worry to this Ministry and government is the missing boat that left the shores of Gunjur on 8th November 2021," Dr. Mamadou Tangara, the minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Gambians Abroad said in a press statement yesterday.

"The boat carrying two hundred (200) migrants including thirty-nine (39) from Gunjur left the shores of Gunjur into the Mediterranean Sea for Europe. The boat got missing and until today, their whereabouts cannot be established," he added. "When the information came to the attention of the Foreign Ministry, we engaged our Missions in Mauritania, Morrocco, Spain, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Spanish Border Guards on a search mission. But, until today, their trace could not be found."

Talking about the "unfortunate" development concerning the situation of Gambian migrants in Tunisia, the minister said 60 Gambian migrants were processed and issued with emergency travel documents.

"IOM will support their evacuation to The Gambia on 27th July 2023 to reunite with their families," he said. "The Ministry will continue to monitor developments concerning Gambian migrants in Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, and Niger."

He announced that from last year to date, the Foreign Ministry has, with the help of the Moroccan authorities facilitated the evacuation of eight hundred (800) Gambian migrants from the Kingdom of Morocco to The Gambia to be reunited with their families. "Last year, the Foreign Ministry and its Mission in Nouakchott in collaboration with The Gambia Red Cross Society and their counterparts in Senegal and Mauritania have facilitated the evacuation of six hundred (600) Gambian migrants from Mauritania and about three hundred this year."

The Foreign Ministry and its Mission in Dakar has facilitated the evacuation of about three (300) hundred Gambian migrants from Senegal since last year.

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