By Arret Jatta
The Commissioner for Migration Management at the Gambia Immigration Department Binta KJ Barrow has revealed that the majority of people using the sea route to embark on the perilous “back way” from The Gambia are not from here.
Speaking at a press briefing organised by Gambia Maritime Administration (GMA) and National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) on the status of a number of capsized migrant boats yesterday, Commissioner Barrow highlighted the alarming involvement of foreign nationals in irregular migration, citing statistics that showed that 82 survivors of a recent maritime incident included 38 Senegalese, 52 Gambians, 4 Malians, and 2 Ivorians.
“We have more than 300 migrants currently at Tanji Migration and Reception Center, and the majority of them are non-Gambians. The involvement of non-Gambians in irregular migration issues in the Gambia is on the increase and is alarming,” she warned.
The Commissioner attributed the problem to the Gambia’s lack of relevant laws to prosecute smugglers and the lucrative nature of the trade. “If you are able to mobilise 200 or 300 migrants, each paying D50,000, already you are a millionaire. Every other individual is into this, including Gambians being accomplices to it,” she added.
According to her, statistics also show that most organisers of irregular migration are non-Gambians, (mostly Senegalese) who exploit Gambia’s porous borders and lack of laws to smuggle migrants. “Senegal has a law in place that criminalises smuggling of migrants, and Gambia is yet to have this law, and this is known to the sub-Saharan Africans,” she explained.
She further revealed that recently, they intercepted 70 would-be migrants, including 50 Senegalese, 6 Gambiansand 14 Guineans, while 107 others were rescued with the help of the police.
“Statistics from January to date show that over 1,600 Senegalese nationals, 638 Guineans, and 600 other nationalities have been involved in irregular migration,” she highlighted.
Commissioner Barrow appealed for the passage of a bill criminalising migrant smuggling, saying it is crucial to addressing the problem. She also emphasised the need for concerted efforts among stakeholders to combat irregular migration.
“We are law enforcement agencies, that’s Immigration, navy and police. But where is the law that we are enforcing?”. Migration is cross-cutting, and it needs concerted effort. No one institution wins alone. Though in any mandate, you have the lead agents, but so long as efforts are not coordinated, and people are competing instead of complementing efforts, nobody achieves. At the end, we all become victims,” she warned.
