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Momodou
Denmark
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 Posted - 14 Nov 2018 : 15:14:56
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Gov’t urged to engage Europe over maltreatment of Gambian migrants
The Point: Wednesday, November 14, 2018
http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/govt-urged-to-engage-europe-over-maltreatment-of-gambian-migrants
The National Assembly Member (NAM) for Banjul North Hon. Ousman Sillah, has called on the government of The Gambia to engage European governments to put an end to the oppression of young Gambian migrants who are in search of better lives in Europe.
The Banjul North lawmaker said this on Friday, 9 November 2019, while addressing Gambians at the Hammonia SV Vereinshaus (club house) in the German city of Hamburg.
Mr. Sillah, who is currently touring seven European countries to meet with Gambians and friends of The Gambia, arrived in Germany on Thursday morning and was received at the airport in Hamburg by Mr. Alagie Jobe and Mr. Arona Badjie.
The visit, part of his statutory responsibilities as a representative of the people wasto hear about their concerns and views on wide ranging issues affecting them both in Europe and back home in The Gambia.
Addressing his audience, Mr. Sillah further said what he has seen in a video footage that has gone viral on social media, showing a young man being shoved on the ground by two German police and tied with a rope is inhuman, degrading and a violation of rights.
He said the young man who was groaning was tied like a sheep ready for the slaughter. He said this is unacceptable and that the government of The Gambia should do something to ensure that Gambians are treated well anywhere they are in the world.
Mr. Sillah told the gathering about the meetings he had with Gambians and other people and organisations during his visit to Italy and Austria and the shocking encounter with the young Gambian migrants he found hanging out in the open during this cold winter season at the central train station in Milan.
Reiterating his call for the European governments to accept and provide support to these young Gambia migrants, Mr. Sillah said there should be a standstill or halt in any current operation of forced repatriation of these young people who had to risk their lives and spend so much in order to reach the shores of Europe.
Mr. Sillah again emphasised that in as much as Germany, Italy and other European countries are being called upon to accept and assume their moral and legal obligations to accommodate and regularise the stay of all those people who find themselves within their territories, The Gambia government should not also give up its responsibility to create the conditions that would make the young people to stay and develop the country.
He added that migration is a natural phenomenon that has been with mankind since time immemorial but that the scale in which young people are now leaving the country for opportunities is alarming.
He said it is therefore the duty of the government to invest in the young people so that they would not be leaving the country en masse for opportunities elsewhere.
Author: Arfang M.S. Camara
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Gov’t urged to engage Europe over maltreatment
