By: Nyima Sillah
Several Gambian youths have been exploited through horrible labour and human rights violations in Qatar making their lives and livelihood in the Middle East miserable one in this nation; this medium has been reliably informed.
It could be recalled that several Gambian youths have been migrating to Europe through the Sahara Desert but now many have turned their attention to the Middle East, most especially the State of Qatar for greener pastures.
However, many Gambian youths have reportedly of been trafficked and smuggled by agents who are believed to be Gambians, in particular. The Gambian migrants in the Islamic State claimed to be attracted to the country by lucrative job opportunities but only found themselves in horrible conditions in the country after they arrived.
Saka Dembelleh (not his real name), is a victim of among the victims.
“I was convinced by a traveling agency to travel to Qatar. When I arrived in Qatar, I was received at the airport by one Muhammed Barry. He took me to an accommodation of which 8 to 15 people are staying, which is more or less a ghetto house.”
Dembelleh left The Gambia on 2nd July 2022 after paying the agent D110,000.00. He was lured by the agent’s promise that he would easily get a good job in Qatar and recover the amount he paid within a short period of time. But once in Qatar, Dembelleh’s hope of Eldorado turned a nightmare and a harsh search for a better life.
“Muhammed Barry a Gambian based in Qatar and also our supervisor always gives us a tough time and conditions that are not favorable to us. He is a Gambian like us but he joined the Qataris to maltreat Gambians who are working in this company, where some of us are working.”
Dembelleh adds: “They maltreat us, abuse our rights and the payment is very small and no one is allowed to quit the manual job. And anyone who does it will be fined a huge amount of money,” he revealed.
He said migrants without the Qatari National Identification Card (ID) find it difficult to survive in the country.
“Job opportunities are available here but without the ID card, one cannot have the needed job. My boss should process the ID for me he is not doing that. The documentations are with conditions. One has to read the terms and conditions very well before signing it and they will tell you without signing that document your ID card cannot be produced,” he elaborated.
He also said freedom in Qatar is always a problem because they suppress people.
“You pay a huge amount of money from The Gambia, you come here and work under pressure, this is like human exploitation,” he said.
Speaking on freedom in the Islamic State, “Our international passports have been seized by the company we are working for. And you know one cannot leave in the absence of it. It is just like we are imprisoned.”
He said he and some Gambian youth have complained to the Gambian Councilor in Qatar and the Councilor has dialed the manager of the company but he refused to pick up the call to respond.
According to him, the Gambian diplomatic mission in the Middle East nation is not willing to address their problem, saying that if they want to help them they should have made a follow-up and taken it up with their bosses.
Another victim of trafficking in persons in Qatar said: “We are indeed in need of help I have been here for over three months and my visa got expired yesterday. I have not been doing anything since I arrived here; I could not even secure any job because of my condition.”
He continued: “The way my situation is, If I do not leave this place, I am scared something might happen to me. Emotionally what I am feeling here is not normal.
“I am afraid something might go wrong with me. Now I do not want Qatari job anymore. All I want is to return home. I do not want to stay even a day here,” he cried out.
Sambojo Karta, (not his real name) disclosed that there are several human traffickers and smugglers in the Gambia. He accused the travel agencies as they are within the Westfield – Buffer Zone Highway of being behind the several human trafficking in the country.
This source provided the medium with names of agents in Qatarwho are responsible for the trafficking and Smuggling of several Gambians in the Middle East. The agents he said include Muhammed Barry, Kebba Jeng, Alagie Ousman, AbubacarrCorr, Muhammed Dampha, Alieu Kah Momodou Bah. We can’t independently verify this claim.
However, he said there is a greater need for the Inspector General of Police of The Gambia to mount an investigation on the travel agencies in the country, justifying that most of them are behind the human trafficking and smuggling in the country in the pretense of providing jobs for people abroad.
“I paid D120,000.00 to my agent, Muhammed Barry, and some paid D130, 000.00. D100,000.00 others D75,000.00 and more. They will tell you to pay those amounts and later share the money with agents in the Gambia or Qatar.
“When we came here all we do is hard labour, we wake up at 3:00 am and start work at 5:00 am because we are far from the place where we work. Even if you are sick, you will work and one of the jobs we do is to carry a heavy load bag full of sand carried by two people and pour it in a hold (hole) which is one of the hardest jobs and can easily crack someone health-wise,” he explained.
The CEO of a Travel Agency who prefers anonymity said one of the migrants has been frequently going to his office and telling him to help him travel to Qatar. “I told him that I do not have the provision now but will try to get him a contact and get back to him. When I had the provision, I called him.
“When he (the guy) came he told me that he does not know anyone in Qatar and that he would like me to secure him a job in a company where he can have accommodation and that he is willing to do any kind of work and that he just want to leave this place (country – Gambia).
“We got him that he left and discussed the rest with the company. I never told him that he will recover the money he paid within three months and I do not even know that Muhammed Barry was in Qatar I cannot do anything about that because I am not in Qatar. My services stop in the Gambia, and I only played a role for him to get a visa period,” the travel agency executive director denied making any false promise to customers or Qatar migrants.
Musa Bah, Councilor of Qatar said: “We cannot solve all the problems of these migrants. They are many and we don’t even know how some of them landed here. You cannot do you process, come here without the notice of the embassy and expect all your problems to be solve by the embassy.”
According to him, some of these people pay certain amount of money to the agents that are less than the actual cash to acquire Qatari Visa just because they desperately want to travel. Adding that some of them would be fooled by these agents that they will work when they get here showing those names and pictures that are not operating here.
“They sign these documents without authenticity from the Gambia embassy and now they want the embassy to solve the problem. Thus, the embassy engaged these agents and told them to stop such process or we will return them to the Gambia.
“We are doing all it takes to help these people but they have to understand that the process involve some protocols that needs to be sort out before they go back to the Gambia,” Gambia Councilor in Qatar said.
Author’s note: All the interviewees in this story asked for anonymity for fear of reprisal.