A German refugee organisation has implicated the Gambia government of cooperating with the German government in identifying and deporting Gambian asylum seekers and refugees.

The Refugee Council of Baden-Württemberg in a press release issued on Thursday challenged the Gambia government narrative that they had no agreement with the German government and that they had imposed a moratorium on deportation.

The Council stated in the press release:

“The deportations from Germany to The Gambia are causing considerable controversy in both countries. At the end of last week, a report spread that the Gambian government claimed to have reached an agreement with the German ambassador to suspend the deportations until further notice. Furthermore, the Gambian government denied any participation in the deportations and any agreement with Germany or the EU regarding repatriations.

“This news, which was spread by various media in Gambia, spread very quickly as far as Germany. Since the weekend, the Refugee Council has received numerous inquiries from people who want to know whether this is really the case. In some cases, volunteer groups who work with refugees spread the news about the alleged agreement.

“In view of the great importance of this topic, the Refugee Council immediately began to launch enquiries on Monday morning.

“On Thursday we received the following reply from the Federal Foreign Office.

There is constructive cooperation between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Gambia in the area of return. Repatriations from Germany take place on the basis of “Best Practices for the Efficient Implementation of the Return Procedure between the EU and Gambia”, which have been negotiated between the European Union and the Gambian Government. On the basis of this agreement, repatriations to Gambia will also take place in the future; although the next planned charter flight was initially postponed. There is no agreement to suspend deportations to Gambia.

“Last year, the Gambian journalist Mustapha K. Darboe reported on ongoing negotiations between the EU and the Gambian government in his blog. The name of the agreement which he reported as being under negotiation at the time coincides with the name of the agreement to which the Federal Foreign Office refers.

“Furthermore, since last year, people from The Gambia have been asked at regular and short intervals to speak to a Gambian delegation in Karlsruhe about the work of identity clarification. Employees of the Gambian Immigration Office are present at these interviews. It has happened in some cases those persons who did not have passports or other identity papers were deported after successful identification during these talks. It is therefore obvious from our point of view that some kind of document which facilitates the deportation of people who otherwise could not be deported due to lack of passport or papers can be produced on the basis of these interviews with the Gambian delegation. Therefore, the current deportations could not take place without the active cooperation of the Gambian authorities.”