…Belgian embassy in Dakar follows suit
By Talibeh Hydara
Spanish police have started seizing Gambian machine-readable-passports, MRPs, as the Southern European country struggles to establish authenticity of the documents.
Last month, The Standard received complaints from a number of Gambian migrants in Spain that authorities have started seizing their non-biometric passports.
According to them, no explanation has been put forth for the new measure but responding to The Standard”s inquiry, The Gambia’s embassy in Madrid confirmed that the authorities may resort to such actions when there are doubts about the authenticity of the document.
“The Spanish authorities may temporarily seize machine-readable-passports from Gambian nationals when there are doubts regarding the authenticity of the documents. This can occur particularly when discrepancies arise between the passport details and the physical appearance of the individual carrying it. They will also carry out their own investigation, whilst they will also inform the Gambian Embassy, allowing us to do our own investigation and verify the legitimacy of the passport in question.
It is important to note that many of these cases involve passports that were not obtained directly through the Embassy. As part of our commitment to safeguarding the rights and supporting the interests of Gambian citizens, we collaborate closely with the Spanish authorities to ensure a fair assessment process for all documentation,” the embassy said.
The Gambia Immigration Department said the “Spanish police are intercepting MRPs due to irregularities in age of young irregular migrants who are in Spain or outside Gambia and file for passport through agents, parents without necessary DNA confirmation of their ages which is done to migrants in diaspora. This is attributed to detention procedures of adults, minors and gender issues. We as Gambia cannot control ages confirmation.”
The Gambian embassy however noted that Spanish authorities do reach out to them to help in establishing the authenticity of this type of passports. “After conducting our own investigation, the Embassy will then issue a Certificate of Authentication.”
According to Gambians in Spain, it costs 30 euros to authenticate a passport from the embassy but it costs nothing if the individual acquires the passport through the embassy. It costs 75 euros to renew or acquire a new Gambian passport through the embassy, which is D5,700+, nearly twice the price in the country.
Challenges in numbers
Spain has become the new Italy with regard to migrant arrivals. Reports indicate that over 40,000 migrants have arrived on the shores of the Canary Islands this year alone, posing serious challenges to both the host country and their respective embassies.
“The Gambia Embassy in Spain faces challenges in obtaining an accurate count of Gambian migrants due to the longstanding nature of migration from The Gambia to Spain, which began as early as the 1960s—decades before the Embassy’s establishment in 2008. Consequently, while a precise record is elusive, the Embassy relies on recent passport requests and document applications as a proxy for registration. This method has recorded approximately 20,000 Gambians in recent years. The Embassy is also coordinating with various Gambian associations and relevant Spanish authorities to gather more accurate data on the Gambian population in Spain,” the embassy said.
For years, foreign nationals have acquired Gambian documents and the conversation stretches to even voter cards in past electoral cycles.
The embassies are apparently battling a similar challenge as other nationals pose as Gambians to acquire a passport.
“The issue of documenting Gambians has indeed become a significant challenge for the Embassy, largely due to the surge in irregular migration to Spain. This increase has considerably expanded our workload, which is difficult to manage given the limited staffing. While we are dedicated to serving Gambians efficiently, we face complex issues like applicants attempting to misrepresent their identities. Some try to lower their age to access certain benefits, while others—who may not even be Gambians—pose as Gambians to obtain documents. Each case requires rigorous verification to prevent fraud and to ensure only genuine applicants receive certified Gambian documents,” it noted.
Biometric in embassies
The embassy has maintained that the Spanish authorities seizing the passports only means they need further verification and not necessarily that machine-readable-passports are not valid.
However, to avoid such occurrences becoming normal in other parts of the world or foreign embassies rejecting Gambian MRPs, the Gambia government has initiated a plan to provide biometric services to the diaspora.
“In the meantime, there are plans to issue biometric passports to Gambians residing in Spain and nearby regions. This consultation has started, and the Gambia Immigration Department, The Gambia Embassy in Madrid, and AFRICARD, the company assigned and contracted to provide the Gambia’s biometric passport, have recently embarked on a tour of some regions in Spain and Italy, sensitizing Gambians residing in those areas on the commencement of the biometric passport project. Therefore, we expect that a biometric passport will be issued in the not- too-distant future,” the embassy said.
The Gambia Immigration Department, responding to a Standard inquiry about this project, said: “The EU support to the government of The Gambia has outlined indicators including increase in biometric passport as recommended. This is attributed to easy facilitation of identification and verification procedures which profoundly is reliable for their security measures. In addition, be reminded that our data on biometric are kept in Brussels through AFRICARD and Zetes which subcontracted them. Biometric passport is also the recommended means of international standards and as recommended by ECOWAS. It is also important to note that Gambia is utilizing the machine-readable-passport simply to cater for diaspora communities of Gambians.”
Even though most applications for this type of passports are diasporans, a lot more Gambians resident in the country are capitalizing on the hassle-free acquisition of the document and using family members to get it without stepping out of the house.
The company contracted to issue biometric passports to diaspora Gambians had initially proposed a 200-euro fee, which is more than D15,000 and D12,000 more than its cost in The Gambia.
However, according to the GID, the fees are now “recommended for €120 as opposed to €200 initially proposed by AFRICARD and government. I mentioned government because the contract document outlines these fees increment. However, Africard is still engaging the Ministry of Interior for compliance to agreement to increase as they are running at a loss due to inflation. In addition, plans are underway to deploy GID officers to Spain for ease of facilitation.”
Belgian embassy’s harsh measure
The Standard has also confirmed from the Belgian embassy in Dakar that it no longer accepts a non-biometric passport from Gambians.
In a terse response to The Standard on 15 October 2024, the embassy stated: “Please be informed that the Embassy does not accept non-machine-readable passports. You will note that for The Gambia, we only accept biometric passports for processing.”
This means that machine-readable-passports of other countries may be accepted but not The Gambia.
The Standard could not confirm if other foreign embassies have taken a similar action.
The Gambia started issuing biometric passports in in 2014 and it mandates the applicant to be present in person as opposed to non-biometric ones.
The International Civil Aviation Organization requires member states to only issue machine-readable-passports as non-MRPs phased out in 2015. Over 150 countries worldwide are now issuing biometric passports. Malaysia was the first country to issue biometric passports in 1998.
