A Gambian ‘backway’ migrant who bore eight months’ imprisonment in a Tunisian prison has recalled harrowing conditions of detention, where they were brutally tortured and inhumanely treated.

Malang, not his real name, begged for anonymity, as he shared his story. He fled poverty in his home country, hoping to earn a better life elsewhere in Europe.

However, without legal documentation, his only chance was to embark on the perilous ‘backway’ journey through north Africa and Mediterranean Sea. 

After days of gruelling journeys from Banjul through to Bamako and to Tunisia, Malang faced even greater trouble.

He was among hundreds of African migrants arrested and jailed, as Tunisia continued its crackdown on illegal migrants. At the prison, they numbered more than 1,000 inmates.

“The prison was so full that inmates had to share beds. I was transferred to another cell because they don’t want prisoners to get used to one another,” he said.

He spent close to a year in the prison, where they were routinely tortured and badly treated.

“I was imprisoned for eight months. There were a handful of Gambians, but I was locked up in a cell dominated by Cameroonians. I spent four days with my hands and legs handcuffed to an iron pole. And the food was terrible. We were served with an empty loaf of bread,” he added.

According to him, there are countless Gambian migrants languishing in prisons in Tunisia and Libya. He called on the Gambian government to urgently take action and free these Gambians.

By Adama Makasuba