By Alagie Manneh
The last of the monthly deportations of Gambian migrants from Germany landed at the Banjul International Airport Thursday morning.
The chartered flight brought about 35 deportees, according to Yahya Sonko, a Germany-based migration activist. “My NGO was on the ground when the flight landed at 1am on Thursday. We have also spoken to four deportees on board the flight upon their arrival in The Gambia.”
The Gambia government has been cooperating on monthly deportations of its nationals from across the EU zone since 2019. The Gambia initially played hardball, refusing to accept EU’s monthly deportations, however, in October 2021, the Council decided to temporarily suspend the application of certain provisions in the visa code to nationals of The Gambia in a measure designed to force the country to cooperate on returns.
“More than 400 Gambians have been repatriated this year alone,” said Mr Sonko. More than 20,000 undocumented Gambians currently reside in Europe, he added.
He added that a “culture of fear” persists within undocumented migrants.
“Even as the Christmas festivities near it is frustrating that they are deporting migrants. Even some German activists here have said this should not be happening,” said Mr Sonko.
He said the monthly deportations, facilitated under the so-called Good Practice Document signed between The Gambia and EU, will continue into next year. “The EU is expecting our government to cooperate even further in 2024,” he added.
A prominent German migration activist, Baerbel Klett, condemned the recent deportations in a Facebook post, calling it “sad”.
“I am sad to inform you that the German government will not pause their deportation practices even during the Christmas season,” Ms Klett said. “It’s edging into mockery to celebrate family, humanity, helping others and showing kindness and mercy this time of year, but on the flipside rip people out of their lives, which many have built for themselves here in Europe now for almost a decade.” Meanwhile, a source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the report about the arrival of the flight.
