Kemo Cham, AfricaNews reporter in Dakar, Senegal
The Gambia government has deported a number of foreign nationals for non-payment of 'Alien permits'. The deported nationals who include Senegalese, Guineans, Ghanaians, Nigerians and other nationals, were reportedly 'dumped' in the Senegalese border village of Karang, where local authorities have been expressing consternation over the rational behind the move.
The mayor of Karang, Ousmane Sene, described the move by the Gambian authorities over the week end as a ‘provocation,’ while condemning the silence from his government side in Dakar.
‘‘It surprised us that the Senegalese police let people in like that. I have been here since 1990, but it has always been the same, yet the police are in our neighborhood. Often the Gambians discharged these people here without giving any justification,’’ the mayor told Walfadjri News.
President Yahya Jammeh who, ironically, has been a vocal element in the call for African unity, instituted a controversial policy that requires foreign nationals resident in the Gambia to pay alien permit. Critics have described this as contradictory to his claim of being pan-Africanist.
The Gambian immigration has been accused on many occasions by even some Gambians for their unprofessional conduct in executing raids on offenders. Majority of nationals from these countries affected are engaged in menial jobs or petty trading activities, which makes it difficult for them to meet the requirement. And it has always been a matter of cat and mouse game between them and a specially trained unit of the Gambian immigration.
'It was early in the morning when police woke us up. Without even giving us time to take some luggage, we were crammed into buses and expelled from the Gambia. It is inhumane to treat an African brother this way, Xibar.net, a Senegalese online newspaper quoted Amadou Diallo, one of the deportees who are presently staying in the border village.
Local authorities on the other side of the border are especially concerned about the issue for security reasons. Mayor Sene was categorically disapproving of the attitude of the Senegalese government towards the development.
‘‘They have not reacted and that is worrying!’’ he said. Adding, ‘‘I think the primary role of a state is to defend its territorial integrity. It is irresponsibility to leave a neighboring state to violate one’s borders.’’
Although acknowledging the fact that there are Senegalese among the deportees, Mr Sene said that there are other nationalities in their ranks, and that as such ‘‘I can not understand why the Gambian authorities did not bother to properly identify the different nationalities to return them to their respective countries. He charged that the move poses a real danger because the village of Karang is at a crossroads. And that dumping people whose nationality is often unknown is abnormal.
The Gambia government has deported a number of foreign nationals for non-payment of 'Alien permits'. The deported nationals who include Senegalese, Guineans, Ghanaians, Nigerians and other nationals, were reportedly 'dumped' in the Senegalese border village of Karang, where local authorities have been expressing consternation over the rational behind the move.
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