(JollofNews) – The Government of the Gambia has announced the immediate suspension of passports and national identity cards production until further notice.
The decision according to the Ministry of the Interior, will enable the relevant authorities to protect and promote the integrity of national documents.
The ministry said it is embarking on a comprehensive review of the entire process of issuance of national documents.
The sudden suspension of passport and identity card production is likely to affect thousands of Gambians travelling within and outside of the Gambia.
It is a requirement for Gambians to carry identity cards in the Gambia and police and immigration officials often request commuters to produce them at various security checkpoints before being allowed to proceed on their travels.
I buy the ideas of suspension of passports and national I.d card. It is in a wrong hand and over 22 years of yahya Jammeh regime government could not produce I d and passport to Gambian.
My friend is Gambian but a naturalized citizen in the United States, and he would always get a Gambian visa to go back home to see his family. They would always issue him with a 1 year visa, multiple entries. The problem is whenever he arrives at the Banjul airport, the immigration would give him 30 days to stay in the, despite he have been issued with a 1 year visa with multiple entries. Whenever he comes to The Gambia, he will always go to immigration office in Banjul to extend his stay and even pay money for it.
My question is even though he is a naturalized United States citizens and travels with his U.S. Passport, does this exempt him to stay in The Gambia as long as he wishes? Because we he is still a Gambian. Why should he have to pay for the extended visa? Is Gambia still in honor of the U.S. Gambia dual citizenship? Why should Gambians have to apply for a visa to back to The Gambia even if they travel with a foreign passport? I think the Government should check into this.
Peace, if your wants to avoid applying and paying for a visa he should try and get a Gambian passport if he has not renounce his Gambian citizenship. He would not require a visa then to travel to the Gambia. Most Gambians don’t like travelling to the Gambia with a Gambian passport because if they do and happen to get into trouble with the authorities which was common during Jammeh’s era, it will be difficult to get consular support from USA or other European countries. That is because they enter Gambia as a Gambian so their second country will have limits as to what help they can give. Getting a visa does not mean guaranteed entrance into the country. Just like in UK, USA and other European countries, final entry clearance is given by the immigration officer at the port of entry. However, we all know that there are some very corrupt immigration officers in the Gambia. They abuse their authority to enrich themselves. Your friend and countless other Gambians with foreign passports are regularly inconvenienced so that the immigration officer can fleece them of their pocket money.
@ Buba= I agree. My friend still have a Gambian passport and a U.S. Passport. He did not renounce his Gambian birth citizenship. I completely agree that some of The Gambian immigration officers are very corrupt and would do anything to get money from Gambians in this situation. The authorities should do something about this. Thanks Bro—Buba
Sorry for the typos in the previous posting above. But my question is, are Gambians with dual citizenship still treated as Gambians?
Peace, officially they are but in practice they don’t get treated as Gambians because of corruption. Even if you do not have dual citizenship you are treated differently once people know that you have just come from Europe or America. You are seen as a cash cow by all the corrupt officials you encounter. It is sad but true.
@Buba= I agree again, and we should pressure the authorities to do something about it. The Gambian diaspora are important as any Gambian. I think they can have a policy that would find a solution for all concerned. Thanks bro-Buba
Peace, i have written an open letter to the president and in it i have proposed certain things that i believe if implemented will bring in some changes soon. It was published on the 19/3/17 under the opinion column.
@ Bro Buba= Thanks for the open letter!
FOR CLARIFICATION:
Only NON BIOMETRIC passport and ID card production are suspended.
Therefore picture of biometric passport posted is not accurate, should be Non Biometric passport.
However BIOMETRIC PASSPORT or E-PASSPORT production is not suspended.
Gambians are currently applying for Biometric passport at enrollment center # 7 Ecowas Avenue, Banjul.