By Tabora Bojang
At least 33 foreign nationals are set to be deported having been convicted of illegally entering the country and failing to regularise their documentation.
The convicts include Senegalese, Guineans, Malians, Nigerians and Sierra Leoneans.
They were arraigned before the Brikama Magistrate’s Court yesterday and convicted accordingly.
According to the commissioner of operations at the Gambia Immigration Department Sulayman Kujabi, the convicts are awaiting repatriation to their native countries in the coming days.
The commissioner said the case of five others who claimed to be Gambians is still pending as the court has asked them to confirm their claims in two weeks.
Speaking at a press briefing at the Tanji Immigration centre, Commissioner Kujabi warned that The Gambia is increasingly becoming a transit country for irregular migrants especially from Ecowas member states.
Kujabi added that this operation is part of a new approach by the GID management to provide effective control of the borders, detect and deter criminals and perpetrators of trans national crimes that threaten national security including traffickers and people smugglers.
