By Mustapha Jallow
Following a migrant boat that capsized in the sea to embark on Europe-journey, officials of the Gambia Immigration Department (GID) on Sunday vowed to punish traffickers with charges of murder if they are caught.
After paying smugglers D55,000 to begin a journey, 25 individuals were nabbed by the GID patrol team at the Gunjur shoreline. The interception was made on the night of November 12th, 2023, during a recent operation launched to crack down on traffickers – and curb the irregular migration in the country.
Speaking during a night operation, Foday Gassama, GID’s Commissioner for Migration Management Unit, warned: “If you [smugglers] organize any departure and somebody dies, we will charge you for murder. Even if you don’t have the intention, you are being reckless enough, knowing that death will be the ultimate consequence of what you are doing, and you still go ahead and do it. We will bring all the evidence to ensure that you are convicted of murder.’’
“Even if the people don’t depart yet, we will still charge you for attempted murder. So, this is a message to smugglers. We are very serious and will use stringent laws to ensure you are taken to prison for a long time. People are dying, and smugglers are continuing to benefit financially or materially by putting the lives of our youths in jeopardy – that is something that is not going to be tolerated,’’ he remarked.
Babucarr Janneh, the Commissioner of Operation for GID, said these intercepted individuals almost walked into the boat to begin their journey but were nabbed on the spot by the operation team. He said the ship that was supposed to pick up the persons – was from Senegal.
Therefore, he asked the public to fully cooperate and support the patrol enough to tackle irregular migration. Janneh added that the boot of these individuals emanated from a tip-off, saying no Gambian alerted the GID’s Intel about the intentions of persons trying to leave the country through this journey.
Inspector Muhammad Bah, the deputy spokesperson of GID, said 25 intercepted people were to depart to Europe. Among the 25, he added, there are two non-Gambians, one Ivorian and one Sierra Leonean. According to him, the information they have gathered so far is that each person paid D55,000 for the journey, and three females were also part of the 25 intercepted.
Meanwhile, “Operation Zero Departure was recently launched in the aftermath of the loss of lives in Bakau and other missing boats, but their whereabouts are unknown. So far this year, 2023, 29 people were nabbed in trying to use the backway, and six traffickers were prosecuted. What is forcing young people to leave? Some said that it is grinding poverty that is pushing Gambians to take a problematic Atlantic Sea route to reach Europe.
President Adama Barrow vowed to punish traffickers after the December 2019 boat tragedy that claimed many lives of Gambians. Still, some believed that the democratically elected leader was not doing enough to curb the situation.
Janneh added that the boats of these individuals emanated from a tip-off, saying no Gambian alerted the GID’s Intel about the intentions of persons trying to leave the country through this journey.
Inspector Muhammad Bah, the deputy spokesperson of GID, said 25 intercepted people were to depart to Europe. Among the 25, he added, there are two non-Gambians, one Ivorian and one Sierra Leonean. According to him, the information they have gathered so far is that each person paid D55,000 for the journey, and three females were also part of the 25 intercepted.
Meanwhile, “Operation Zero Departure was recently launched in the aftermath of the loss of lives in Bakau and other missing boats, but their whereabouts are unknown. So far this year, 2023, 29 people have been nabbed in trying to use the backway, while six traffickers are being prosecuted. What is forcing young people to leave? Some said that it is grinding poverty that is pushing Gambians to take a problematic Atlantic Sea route to reach Europe.
President Adama Barrow once vowed to punish traffickers after the December 2019 boat tragedy that claimed many lives of Gambians. Still, some believed that the democratically elected leader was not doing enough to curb the situation.
