Gambia News : Cashing In On The Spanish Deal

Jan 26,2008 by

The Gambia government has been trying to cash in on the massive flight of Gambian youths who try to enter Spain in search of green pastures in Europe. Each year, over the past four years, an estimated 30 000 young West Africans have attempted to take the perilous trips on dugouts and canoes across the sea. Many of these come from The Gambia or use the country as a launching pad because of its porous borders and close proximity to Western Europe. After failing to get sufficient assistance from the European Union in order to stem the flow of the undocumented and unwanted immigrants, the Spanish government decided to launch an aggressive diplomatic drive in the West Africa region aimed at getting more support from West African governments in stopping the youth and facilitating their repatriation back to their respective countries upon their capture. In exchange for the cooperation of the African governments, Spanish diplomats who were in frantic shuttles across the region, made lots of promises of assisting the governments with skills training and employment creation projects that would help keep the youth in their home country. Several treaties and agreements to this effect were signed by Gambian and Spanish authorities. But little has materialized from the agreements since then, while the authorities in Banjul are left to face the wrath and disenchantment of the youth who blame the authorities of “selling them out.” Upon their repatriation many of the youths resort to violent acts against the state, destroying public properties at the Banjul International Airport and publicly manifesting their anger and frustrations. The authorities in Banjul have now decided to see if they can press their Spanish counterparts into hastening the implementation of the agreements and cashing in on the problem.

Last week, Mr. Crispin Grey-Johnson, Gambian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, led a high-powered delegation on a weeklong mission to Madrid from 8th to 15th January. Others on the trail included the secretaries of state for Trade, Agriculture, Youth and Sports, Higher Education, Interior and Tourism. The delegation also included Permanent Secretaries and other top government officials, including some from the National Planning Commission, GIPFZA.

According to a press release from the Department of State for Foreign Affairs, the purpose of the visit “entailed finding ways of further deepening cooperation relations, following-up on pledges made by the Spanish government with regards to financial and technical assistance in the construction of new, and the upgrading of existing skills centers, creating employment for youths with the view to curbing illegal migration while encouraging legal migration of skilled and unskilled Gambian workers; and finally, establishing initial contacts and securing additional support and promoting The Gambia as a business hub into the sub-region.” In this context, the delegation met with Spanish investors and invited them to invest in the growth and employment sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, construction, and tourism.

The release continues that, “In the field of training, the Spanish side confirmed that work on the first three training centers is on course, and preliminary activities have begun on the other five training centers currently under joint execution by the Spanish Agriculture Agency, TRAGSA and the National Training Authority (NTA).”

In the area of sports, the Spanish authorities with their Gambian counterparts are exploring possibilities of establishing a sports training center for football and basketball.” On women’s issues, €500,000 have been set aside to strengthen public policy on women. The Spanish side has promised to disburse those funds directly to the National Women’s Council.”

The release also mentioned projects and plans in the areas of tourism, trade and investment promotion. The press release also states that the delegation had submitted draft agreements on Trade and on Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments between the two countries. In October 2006 when Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos visited Banjul, The Gambia and Spain signed a framework of agreement aimed at curbing immigration into the European country.

Src: Gambia Journal, The

Gambia News : Cashing In On The Spanish Deal

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