By: Nyima Sillah
The European Union Commission on Migration and Deportation Affairs in its annual report revealed that the standard visa fee of 80 EUR will once again apply to nationals of The Gambia over the country’s failure to cooperate on readmitting its citizens from the EU.
The EU and the Gambia government signed a readmission agreement (Good Practices on Identification and Return) on 16 November 2018, but the EU said the country did not implement most of the terms of this agreement.
It could be recalled that the EU Commission in 2021 imposed a visa restriction on The Gambia and the same commission met again and came up with an annual report, indicating the steps taken by The Gambia.
The commission oversees migration matters and deportation affairs of countries. It is responsible for looking into the readmissions and deportations to know which countries are cooperating and not.
The commission said on 12 October 2023, during the council implementation decision on repealing implementing decision (EU) 2022/2459 on the application of an increased visa fee with respect to The Gambia, that it has reinstated the standard visa fee of 80 EUR.
According to the EU Commission’s annual report, since the Gambia’s cooperation on readmission is still not sufficient with regard to the assistance provided in the identification of Gambian nationals illegally staying on the territory of all Member States, the timely issuance of travel documents and the capacity and frequency of charter flights to allow for a sustainable reduction of the number of persons illegally staying in the Member States, the Commission considers that Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1781 should remain in force.
“On the basis of the above, the Commission is therefore proposing to repeal Council Implementing Decision 2022/2459. This means that the standard fee of 80 EUR will once again apply to nationals of The Gambia,” the report stated.
Meanwhile, the non-binding EU readmission arrangement with The Gambia (Good Practices on Identification and Return) became operational on 16 November 2018.
“Following the adoption of the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1781, the Commission and the High Representative enhanced their engagement with the authorities of The Gambia on readmission cooperation at all levels, both in Brussels and Banjul, while continuing to monitor The Gambia’s cooperation.
“The EU reiterated the need to restart cooperation on processing readmission applications and on return operations based on the existing readmission arrangement, including during high-level meetings with the Gambian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as during the first meeting of the Joint Working Group under the EU readmission arrangement that took place in October 2022,” EU Commission’s report stressed.
The report further stated that despite the continuous engagement of the EU to improve the level of cooperation by The Gambia, such progress was not achieved on all steps of the readmission procedure.
The Commission acknowledged a number of steps taken by The Gambia but indicated that further efforts were needed to ensure the full implementation of the readmission arrangement towards all Member States, and the need to build on the ongoing actions to achieve sustained and substantial progress in all phases of the readmission procedure.
