About 15 Gambian migrants were deported from Germany yesterday on a chartered Germania flight from Munich.

The deportees arrived at the Banjul International Airport Tuesday evening accompanied by German immigration officers and officials from the International Office for Migration (IOM). They were received at the airport by officers from The Gambia Immigration Department.

The deportees all of whom were men were processed and allowed to reunite with their family members who were also at the airport to receive them.

IOM officials gave each deportee a 60 Euros taxi fare and promised to provide a reintegration package for them.

The recent spike in deportation from Germany has troubled the close knit Gambian community in that country.

A press release on Saturday from the Gambia Refugees Association in Germany expressed grave concerned about the deportation of Gambia refugees and migrants from the country.

“We are very much concerned about the ongoing trend of deportation that Germany is taking currently against Gambian refugees and migrants. Last month the Interior minister of Baden-Württemberg Region, Thomas Strobl, was quoted as saying in the news media that there are 2,500 Gambian refugees whose asylum cases have been rejected and already identified to be deported.

“We appeal to all concerned Gambians to convince our government to engage the EU on the deportation issue.”

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier during his visit to Banjul in 2017 confirmed that there were over 35, 000 Gambians migrants in Germany out of whom 1,500 were undocumented and awaiting deportation.

“There are over 35,000 Gambian migrants in Germany, out of whom 1,500 are undocumented and awaiting deportation,’’ Steinmeier had said at a joint press conference with President Adama Barrow in Banjul.

Steinmeier had also said the two countries would work together to work on the problems of illegal migration and provide skills training for Gambians.