An official of the German ministry of Interior, Dr Christian Klos, has said that all Gambians seeking asylum in Germany will face deportation as The Gambia is now considered a safe country.

Dr Klos, head of migration, refugees and readmission at the German Ministry of Interior, made a working visit to Banjul on Wednesday and had a closed door meeting with Vice President Ousainou Darboe at his office.

He told journalists after the meeting that the two governments discussed at length the migration issue including the mass deportation of Gambians from Germany adding that his visit was a fact-finding mission to better understand the Gambian domestic debate on migration.

Dr Klos said that The Gambia was no longer a dictatorship and any asylum by a Gambian on the grounds of political persecution will not be successful. He said the rejection rate for Gambian asylum seekers in Germany was 95 per cent “due to the positive development in the Gambia.” He added that failed Gambian asylum seekers will have to accept either voluntary repatriation or face forceful deportation.

He said contrary to many rumours the two governments have not signed any deportation deal.

“There have been lots of rumours about migration and deportation in Germany which are untrue. We have not signed any deal with the Gambian government to deport its nationals. It’s an issue of international cooperation which we have with many other countries.”

Dr Klos pointed out that migration to Germany was allowed but should be done using the legal route. He said there were about 16, 000 Gambians living and working legally in Germany.   

He said Gambians who wanted to travel legally to Germany should visit the website  www.make-it-in-germany.com for details about the available legal routes to study, work and migrate to Germany and those in Germany looking to return voluntarily after unsuccessful asylum applications should visit the website www.returningfromgermany.de for details on repatriation.

The visiting German delegation also had meetings on migration with officials of The Gambia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.