The Gambia Immigration Department (GID) deputy director, Hulay, Jallow, has revealed that 5,808 Gambians arrived in Italy via boat in 2017.
“Between January and June 2017, 4,920 arrived in Italy via boat, while those that arrived in the whole year totalled 5,808, including 4,249 male, and 122 female, while 1,437 were children of which 1,417 are unaccompanied minors,” she said.
She made the disclosure on Tuesday at a European Union-funded, two-day seminar on “National Stakeholder Forum on Risk of Irregular Migration in The Gambia”, organised by National Authorizing Office Support Unit (NAOSU), at a local hotel,
“It is statistical evidence that the number of Gambian using this route has steadily increased over the years. In 2016, arrivals were 41% higher and compared to 2015.
Moreover, Gambian minors account among the most common three nationalities of unaccompanied and separated children (USAC) arriving in the European Union through Italy,” deputy director Jallow pointed out.
Jallow stressed that the seminar seeks to address the root cause of irregular migration and the risk associated with it by enhancing the capacity of 33 immigration frontline officers and 17 relevant operative stakeholders on irregular migration and other trans-national crimes and migrants’ protection and referral.
According to her, in 2010, the irregular migration route shifted from Trans-Atlantic route to the Trans-Saharan route and through the Central Mediterranean Sea.
“This has no small measure claimed a lot of lives in both the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea. Migrants smugglers and human traffickers have found this irregular migratory corridor very lucrative since the breakdown of law and order in Libya,” she noted.
Ousman Ceesay, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, affirmed the commitment of The Gambian government in addressing the menace of irregular migration.
The seminar, he added, will also enhance and strengthen operational capacity of the participants and also foster a coordinating mechanism amongst the different actors for efficient and effective border control management and professional service delivery.
Momodou Samateh, NAOSU official, noted that support from donors demonstrate their commitment towards supporting Gambia’s development agenda as outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP).
He urged the participants to ensure that the objectives of the seminar are achieved.
