Sweden-based Gambian activist has blamed government for delaying the repatriation of 30 Gambian women stranded in Lebanon.

Lovette Jallow said on Facebook yesterday the government is refusing to take her offer of paying for the repatriation flight.

Ms Jallow said she had the funds about D1.3 million ($27,000) to pay for the airfares to take the women to Senegal and a bus transportation to Banjul. There are no direct flights from Lebanon to The Gambia.

“The situation in Lebanon is becoming more critical. We have hired lawyers who went to General Security (Lebanese Immigration) so that the girls can go home without a (criminal) record and fee (fine),” Ms Jallow said in a Facebook post on Monday. 

All the women stranded in Lebanon are domestic workers working under the country’s strict Kafala system (sponsorship system) which do not allow workers to resign, change employers or return home without the consent of their sponsors. 

“Our lawyers have been driving around to (airline) operators looking for flights. Luckily we have found flights from Lebanon to Senegal and we’ve arranged a bus to take the girls to the Gambian border. And from the Gambian border we have another bus that will take them into Gambia so I can pay for their hotels so they can be quarantined,” Ms Jallow said. 

She criticised the Gambian government for deliberately sabotaging her repatriation plans for the women by not issuing emergency travel documents.

“Everything was set. All we needed was Khalid the Gambian consul (in Lebanon) to actually confirmed that the papers (travel documents) were done. He said the girls cannot leave unless the Gambian government authorised it.”

The Gambia government has denied that it was delaying the repatriation of the stranded women.

“The Honorary Consul in Lebanon is working with authorities in Lebanon to surmount the administrative hurdles such as the payment of penalties before exit clearances are issued.

“It is alleged that some of the women had absconded from their respective employment in violation of their employment contracts, some had minor criminal charges levied against their persons, and some had immigration penalties to settle as a result of overstaying their visas.  These only compounded the complexities in the process of obtaining the clearances,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday. 

“The task of the Honorary Consul to discern which of the women wish to be repatriated proved increasingly difficult as some of the women changed their minds, claiming they have found new jobs and now wish not to be repatriated.

“The Honorary Consul has obtained approval for the waivers of penalties and clearances to travel for all the women. Once these clearances are received, the Government will ensure their safe return.

“NAATIP and the relevant Government institutions are working on investigating the perpetrators and this requires close collaboration with the alleged victims to ensure that the perpetrators are apprehended, investigated and prosecuted.”