Reveals GID’s Commissioner for Refugees
By: Aminata Musa
The Commissioner for Refugees at the Gambia Immigration Department (GID), Commissioner EbrimaManneh, has disclosed that the population of Persons of Concern (PoCs) to the UNHCR in The Gambia stands at 4305.
He stated that out this, 3891 are refugees while 414 are asylum seekers.
Speaking at the commemoration of World Refugee Day on the theme Solidarity with Refugee, Commissioner Mannehdescribed the day as “a moment of reflection” of the countless individuals and families, who have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution, and violence.
According to him, The Gambia has been steadily improving the protection environment for persons in need of international protection.
He recalled that at the end of 2023, an estimated 117.3 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order and continued to increase in the first four months of 2024 and by the end of April 2024 is likely to have exceeded 120 million.
“This constitutes a rise of 8 percent or 8.8 million people compared to the end of 2022 and continue a series of year-on-year increases over the last 12 years. One in 69 people globally or 1.5 percent of the entire world’s population was forcibly displaced, nearly double the one in 125 people a decade ago,” he stated.
Commissioner Manneh said that globally, 43.4 million are refugees, 63.3 million are internally displaced people, and 5.6 million asylum seekers while 4.4million are stateless individuals and 5.8milion other people in need of international protection.
He said that The Gambia, known as the Smiling Coast of Africa, has a rich history of hospitality and generosity andthat the Gambian people have demonstrated that generosity by opening their hearts and homes for those in need.
For his part, the Director General of Immigration who was represented by Ebrima Jahateh renewed his office commitment to continue working with relevant authorities to provide services to refugees where and whenever needed in the country.
In conformity with the theme chosen for World Refugee Day, Mr. Jahateh added that the Gambia Immigration is in unanimity with refugees as grounded in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of human rights 1948, which recognises the rights of person to seek asylum and the Gambia is not an exception as a receiving country.
