By Omar Bah
The European Union Ambassador to The Gambia, Corrado Pampaloni, has denied reports of widespread deportation of Gambians from the European Union. Addressing recent concerns about the number of Gambian deportees from Germany, Ambassador Pampaloni emphasized that there are no mass deportations of Gambians from Europe. He stressed that individuals repatriated to The Gambia had exhausted their legal options to stay in an EU Member State and that all countries, including the EU, have a strict obligation under international law to accept the return of their nationals.
Ambassador Pampaloni also pointed out that in 2023, 9247 Gambians had illegally migrated to European Union countries, significantly higher than the count of individuals returning to The Gambia. He clarified that the EU actively supports all returning migrants by providing various reintegration assistance. Additionally, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, plays a significant role in this process by managing the EU’s external borders and offering reintegration assistance to facilitate the reintegration of third-country nationals into their societies for up to 12 months.
