57-year-old Immigration Act set for reform

The initiative, held at the International Conference Centre, supported by the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF) and funded by the Swiss Confederation, is part of the security sector reform being undertaken by government of The Gambia.

It is held within the framework of the GID Project dubbed “Strengthening the efficiency and accountability of the Gambian Immigration Department (GID).”

The project runs for years and focuses on policy development, management reform, crisis management and internal oversight. The rationale for the Immigration project is justified by the current issues faced and conditions in The Gambia, which do not align with the act and policies on the GID’s mandate.

Team leader for the project, Sulayman Kujabi, said the Immigration Act of 1965 is outdated and it also has many gaps, which have been highlighted in their report of assessment. He, therefore, expressed the expectation of vigorous and coherent deliberation.

“While we pause to take a look at the current immigration act at hand, it is imperative to call on the pronouncement of security sector reform agenda by The Gambia government in 2017,” Director General of GID, Seedy M. Touray said.

“There was a massive response and commitment paid to this call by heads of various security institutions to ensure effective implementation of the recommendations highlighted by the 2017 SSR Assessment Report within the security establishments.”

“To this end, I wish to acknowledge the ingenuity call into action for this product by Gambia Immigration Department and the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance,” he further added.

DCAF boss, Ken Isaac HoO, spoke on the same lines whilst expressing his organisation’s continued readiness to work with The Gambia in improving the security sector.

Immigration law in The Gambia comprises The Gambia Citizenship and Nationality Act, the Immigration Act, the Registration of Aliens Act, and the Refugees Act, which are the regulatory framework on migration. However, the one governing the Gambia Immigration Department is Immigration Act 1965.

The roundtable aims to identify gaps and weaknesses and initiate ways and recommendations to enhance the current legislation.

Thus, among other objectives, the consultation is expected to improve respect for professional standards and human rights norms, including gender equality, by GID personnel through a strengthened and gender-mainstreamed internal oversight framework.