The Gambia government has assured the families of 34 Gambian migrants detained in Dubai that it was working to secure their release. 

“The Gambian Embassy in Abu-Dhabi is collaborating with the Emirati authorities on the matter and the public is further assured of The Gambia Government’s resolve to secure the release of its citizens,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad said in a statement on Sunday (28 August). 

The Gambian migrants are currently held  at the notorious al-Awir prison in Dubai, United Arab Emirates(UAE) for overstaying their visas. 

The prison is notorious for being overcrowded and its brutal treatment of inmates.

The Gambian migrants have complained about their plights and the terrible conditions at the prison. 

 “We are given food to eat in the cells but we live a terrible life,” one of the Gambian detainees told The Point on Friday. 

“If government fails to evacuate us with urgency anything possible can happen to us,” another said.

They claimed that they were lured to the Middle Eastern country with promises of high paying jobs and a better life by the people traffickers. 

 “They lied to us because we neither have a job nor peace here.” 

Reporting by Adama Makasuba