The German government is planning to deport more Gambian migrants in early April, a spokesman for the Gambia Refugee Association has claimed. 

Yaya Sonko, public relations officer of the Germany based Gambia Refugee Association, blamed the Gambia government for the difficult situation Gambian migrants are facing in Europe.

“The second week of April they are trying to organise another flight [but] we don’t know [whether] this will take place or not,” Mr Sonko said.

He said his association in partnership with some German refugee and human rights groups are engaging the German government as well as the Gambian government on behalf of the migrants. 

At lease four deportation flights from Europe mainly Germany have arrived in The Gambia since last year.

Migration experts have expressed concerns about the mass deportation of Gambians in Europe amid the pandemic – as they said it could create a difficult situation in the Gambia such as the increase in crimes because many of the deportees will be unskilled and jobless.

The Gambia, a country that depends hugely on international donors and remittances from its citizens in the diaspora, is still among the world’s poorest countries – a huge number of its population live below the World Bank poverty line. 

Reporting by Adama Makasuba