By Alagie Manneh
The Gambia Immigration Department has seized at least 29 ‘backway’ boats in 2023, arresting a total of 317 migrants, according to Foday Gassama, the commissioner of migration management.
In a Standard exclusive on the sidelines of the National Dialogue on Migration last Thursday, Commissioner Gassama stated: “We have patrol teams that are dedicated fully to intercepting migrants especially those who try to leave by sea, one in the North Bank and another in the West Coast, and they were the teams that made interceptions and arrests in the past year alone.”
He went on to highlight other notable interventions of the GID, including a case involving 33 smugglers, but said the lack of a provision criminalising the activities of smugglers remains a challenge.
He said the existing laws in the criminal code or sometimes the Immigration Act are not enough to serve as a deterrent.
He said despite the human capacity and resources deployed in the fight against irregular migration, the issue remains a serious challenge in The Gambia.
“The issue of irregular migration this year has been unprecedented. It’s like a pandemic that has swept over the entire sub-region and The Gambia is no exception. As a result, it has stretched our capacity and resources to the limit, and that was why we came up with ‘Operation Zero Departure’. We had to redeploy all our resources and human resources and dedicate them to the fight against irregular migration,” Gassama said.
He said the GID will be soliciting support from government, donors and international organisations in order to achieve its desired goals and objectives.
“The primary objective of the GID is to control the movement of people that enter or leave the country. That is why irregular migration has become a very big concern for us because we believe it is something that is done outside of the laws and as a department, we know that migration cannot be stopped but we want to ensure that when it happens, it happens in an orderly, safe, regular and dignified manner,” Commissioner Gassama said.
He said the matter is a cross-cutting issue that must be managed not only by the government, but civil society and members of the community are all stakeholders.
He said the National Dialogue on Migration provided them the opportunity to come together and deliberate, to share ideas and experiences, and to critique one another in a bid to improving and managing migration in a coordinated manner.
“I think the resolution that we are going to come up with from this convergence is going to paint a picture that all stakeholders will see themselves in because it will come up with a number of recommendations. Indeed, members of the community, civil society, and government have a role to play and it will come out clearly in the resolution. So, collectively, we will all know what we would need to do to ensure that migration is properly managed, especially in our efforts to curtailing the issue of irregular migration.”
