By Mustapha Jarju
Yaya Sonko, a Gambian Migrant Activist said Germany deported more than four hundred Gambians from 2017 to date.
Speaking in a Radio Interview, Sonko said: “If you look at the migrant deportation statistics of Germany the amount of Gambians deported is more than four hundred (400) people from 2017 to date, that shows that the amount of migrants that Germany deported is high.”
He revealed that the German government also deports about two to three Gambian migrants in their weekly deportation compared to other European countries like Italy.
He disclosed that the new law enacted by Germany this year will be very hard for migrants and those without documents risking deportation, while recalling the significant amount of money injected by the country in mitigating migration issues compared to other member countries of the European Union.
“In 2018 EU gave 11million Euros to the Gambia Government as part of ‘TIKIFI’ Youth Empowerment Project which is meant to support youth particularly the migrant returnees. These monies are from the EU and also most of the programs initiated by IOM and other projects are sponsored by the EU through German International Cooperation. Germany’s deportations are based on these issues,” he explained.
According to him, there is group deportation which if the Gambia government accepts 25 migrants they will deport them every month, but the individual deportation is a process whereby Gambian migrants are arrested from their residence in Germany and returned back to the Gambia.
Sonko further revealed that if they want to take legal action against the German government on the issue of deportation they used to tell them the Gambia government signed an agreement with the German government called (Good Practice Document), and based on that agreement they are deporting Gambian migrants.
