Africa-Press – Gambia. Scores of furious Gambians residing in Mauritania have called for urgent government intervention from Banjul as many of them are facing continuous harassment, arbitrary arrests/detentions and deportations met to them by Mauritanian authorities.
In an interview over the weekend, many Gambian migrants disclosed that the Mauritanian authorities no longer accept Gambian ID Cards to secure residential permits. Also, the Mauritanian authorities have started cracking down on holders of Permis de séjour (Laissez Passez) that usually lasts for three months. This, according to them, has resulted to mass arrests and detentions of multiple Gambians including children attending madarasas (Qu’ranic schools) in various parts Mauritania.
Mr. Abubakarr Tunkara, a Gambian tailor residing in the Mauritanian Capital, confirms that the situation is quite tense for all migrants, noting that migrants are being significantly targeted all over Mauritania including workplaces, markets, Madarasas (schools) and in the streets and once arrested, the migrants are immediately sent to the borders with Mali or Senegal.
While urging Gambian migrants to be cautious and avoid areas such as Jumma Morroco and Jendi areas, Tunkara warned that anyone caught without residential permit risked been either send to jail or face deportation. He notes that the situation has let many migrants including Gambians to lose everything they have worked for years.
“Right now, there are lots of Gambians in hiding, some of them are family men and cannot go for work or even go out to run personal errands for fear of being arrested. I just left Rosso (a border town in Mauritania), these days but the number of people i saw there who are facing deportation is too much, most of them are picked up in the streets leaving behind everything they worked for over these years,” Mr. Tunkara narrated.
“I don’t know whether our Gambian authorities are aware of what is going on in Mauritania but what is going on if it is not put under control it can spill over to The Gambia.” “If we say bilateral relations, it should not be on one side, it should be two sides because it is not fair for Mauritanians to live peacefully in The Gambia, while Gambians are continually subjected to arrests, detentions and deportation,” he decried.
Tunkara calls on the Mauritanian authorities to come out clear with their policies if they no more want migrants in their country, adding that Gambian government should also intervene by engaging the Mauritanian authorities to ascertain whether they no longer want migrants in their country so that efforts can be made to repatriate Gambians back to their country.
Dawda Nasso, Secretary General of Gambian Community in Mauritania also confirmed the development, noting that Mauritanian authorities have reversed their policy on residential permits and any migrant without one is strictly advised to voluntarily leave Mauritania.
According to him, the Gambian Community in Mauritania have exhausted all the means including engagement with the Gambian Embassy in Mauritania, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Office of Vice President and Gambia Immigration Department, He noted that all the above mentioned Gambian institutions have separately engaged the Mauritanian authorities to no avail.
“Presently, the situation is getting worse because moments after the completion of the issuance of ID Cards to undocumented Gambians by the Immigration Department, Mauritanian authorities said they would no longer accept ID Cards as requirement for obtaining residential permits. They have also stated that only migrants with valid passport would now be issued with residential permit, this became troubling for many Gambians including children attending madaaras in Mauritania,” Nasso explained.
He added: “The situation is definitely very tense a lot of Gambians are without passports and risk being arrested. When we recently visited the Gambian Embassy in Mauritania to relay our concerns all what the Deputy Ambassador Saikouba Jarju told us was that they have done everything possible but they can’t do anything and is now left to us and even if we want we can go to the press.”
Nasso also questioned the efficiency of the Gambian Embassy staff most of whom he said, could not speak French or Arabic making simple communication very difficult for them, adding that the Mauritanian authorities have clearly disregarded all the agreements they have entered into with the Gambian Vice President who led a powerful ministerial delegation to discuss on the residential permit issue.
“It is like all the efforts made by the Gambian Authorities have proved futile because Mauritanian authorities are no more considering Gambian ID Cards. Gambians are subjected to daily arrests by the Mauritanians, imagine even children attending Daaras (Schools) are not spared, this has never happened here and i think is high time for the Gambian Authorities to also take a clear position on this matter,” Nasso concluded.
Meanwhile, contacted to shed lights on the development, Gambian Deputy Ambassador to Mauritania, Hon. Saikouba Jarju replied: “Thank you for reaching out, appreciated. However, I would urge you to reach out to the PS Ministry of Foreign Affairs as he is the head of all diplomatic missions. I am not mandated to talk to any media personnel without his approval.”
The PRESS will follow up on the development with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and we will accordingly update the public on this key national issue.
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