Migrant activist urges Gov’t to appeal to EU on deportation of Gambians

By: Nyima Sillah

As over 4,000 asylum seekers may be deported from Germany soonest, Yahya Moro Yapha, a migrant activist said the Gambian government should appeal to the European Union (EU) through diplomacy to resolve the issue of deportation.

In an interview with this medium, he said “The ultimate solution to deportation is through diplomacy. The Gambia government has to appeal to the European Union to stop the deportation and tell them those who are already integrated, working, and paying tax should be given access to stay. The issue can be resolved through diplomacy because it was signed through diplomacy.”

He stressed that the current deportation is not a recent document that has been signed adding is a long-term agreement between Gambia and Germany. 

Yahpa added that the situation of Gambian migrants in Germany is frustrating, confusing, and full of desperation, noting lots of Gambians living in Germany are constantly living in fear of being deported, and fear of losing all the efforts that they have gone through to be in Germany.

He stated that according to the National Statistic, over 4000 Gambians await deportation, and this does not mean they are captured or detained but they are on the list of deportation by the German authorities. 

“This is scary for Gambians in Germany to see the deportation of over four thousand migrants. That’s why we the activist are coming together to raise awareness, to raise advocacy and our voices to the responsible authorities.”

Yahya explained that some asylum process takes time and the process requires National documents that should be given to the authorities so within that process, they (authorities) take all details. “Now Germans are specifically targeting Gambians all over Germany following Gambia’s through the information gathered during their asylum-seeking process to deport them. 

He further explained that the deportation center is based in Stuttgart Baden Württemberg, while emphasizing that he was reliably informed that the situation of those about to deport in those camps is horrible and inhuman, also in the process of deportation, they maltreat them in the plain and they are accompanied by groups of soldiers in the flight like criminals. 

He, therefore, called on the Human Right Commission to look into the matter of how deportations are carried out because is so undignified.