By: Kemo Kanyi
Gambian migrants, who were deported from Germany, have pointed accusing fingers at the coalition government that took power in 2017 as the authority responsible for their deportation even though they were permitted to work in Germany.
The government of The Gambia had signed an agreement with the German government for the reintegration of irregular migrants from Germany into the Gambia society. The agreement, called “Good Practice Document”, seeks to provide financial support to the deportees and establish skill training facilities that will help create self-employment for them but many of the deported youths were unenamoured.
Alieu Sosseh, a resident of Kotu, alleged thatthe Gambia government facilitated the deportation of Gambian youth only to dump them without creating any reintegration avenue for them.
“I was having my work permit in Germany. The government, who made us suffer, is not doing anything for us. When I arrived at the Banjul International Airport, I was only given D40,000.00 reintegration assistance by Caritas,” he stated.
“The government didn’t do for us what was in the deportation agreement. They don’t care how we are living. We don’t have any help from the government. They want us to cry. If they had given us meaningful support, we would equally be contributing to the economy of the country through taxes. If they had provided us at least D300,000.00, they could help to buy commercial vehicles to engage ourselves in the meaningful development of the country,” he said.
“I have seen of my mates who are into drug abuse because of frustration of not having any employment, and there are family members to take care of,” he noted in despair.
He said the government made Gambians believe that every deportee is a bad person. Sosseh called on family members towholeheartedly welcome the deportees back home and not to caricature them of what the government had portrayed them within the Gambian society.
Nuha Kongira from Sukuta, West Coast Region, said he had never been involved in criminal activity during his stay in Germany.
“I sought asylum to stay in Germany as a Gambian citizen. One day in 2018, I was called to the Gambian Consulate in Germany. When I arrived, I found Gambian immigration officers sitting in the office drinking strawberry. During the conversation, one of the immigration officers advised that I should leave Germany because the Gambia government had signed an agreement to have its citizens deported. He told me that my sister was his classmate and that’s why he gave me that advice,” he narrated.
“My German lady told me she was going to hire a lawyer who will defend me. After a while, German police approached and told me that I was going to be deported because my asylum application was not accepted. I asked why because I had never committed any crime. Finally, I was deported,” he further recounted.
Musa Jarra, a resident of Old Yundum, told The Voice newspaper that the coalition government had made them a commodity in exchange for monies and travels they would enjoy to the European Union countries. He said they were only eyeing the money involved in the deportation agreement and travels.
Jarra told this reporter that he was forcefully arrested by 12 German police officers in his boxers and landed at the Banjul International Airport while he was bleeding.
“Twelve police officers surrounded my house. They knocked at my door and told me that my permit to stay in Germany had expired. I resisted the arrest. During the altercation, I got injured on my chest and about three wounds on my thighs. I was in cuffs from my house up to Stuttguard in my boxers and singlet. Someone saw me in that condition and provided me cloth to wear. Then we transited to Paris, then Casablanca and Gambia.
“Upon arrival at the Banjul International Airport, I was seriously bleeding. One of the immigration officers at the airport first said I could not be accepted in that condition. Suddenly, I saw some officers discussing aside and then later changed their mind, and I was accepted back home,” he emotionally told The Voice.
Jarra said the deportees are now trying to organize themselves to form an association that would give both morale and mental support to the victims of the Good Practice Document who, he said, have fallen into the trap of the Gambia government’s spearheaded deportation.
Habibou Ngum said he spent 10 years in Germany with a daughter and he shared similar experiences.