Gambia refuses to take back illegal migrants with EU deportation orders: African countries may increasingly block migrants deported from Europe from landing in their territory

The African country of The Gambia, headed by President Adama Barrow, is refusing to take back thousands of its citizens currently living in Germany and elsewhere in the European Union who have been issued deportation orders, blocking their repatriations back to West Africa.

As a result of Barrow refusing to issue landing permits for deportation pilots from European Union countries since 2019, the bloc’s authorities have and continue to be powerless to deport 6,000 of the 16,000 Gambians currently residing in Germany who have been ordered to leave the country, Die Welt reports.

The Gambia — where 95 percent of the population is Muslim — claims that it cannot take back its citizens who are residing illegally in Europe because they are “unable to be reintegrated back into society” — and if repatriated — would bring social unrest to the country. Thus, the government is refusing to comply with international law, which obliges country’s to take back their deported nationals.

“Social unrest” can be expected when thousands of Gambian’s return, a spokesman for the Gambian government claimed. “We are trying to consolidate peace, stability, and democracy in our country.”

There are several reasons why President Barrow, who’s up for reelection this coming December, doesn’t want to see Gambian deportees who are living across Europe repatriated. One of the main reasons repeatedly given by Barrow is that the majority of the country’s population – composed of a little over 2 million people – believes that the departure of these young men now living across Europe has helped to eliminate crime and violence in the Gambia. If these young men were returned, they believe the crime and violence would inevitably come back as well, he claims.

Importing thousands of young African men “unable to be reintegrated back into society”, "bring social unrest", and increase "crime and violence", you say? 🤔