An association against deportation has claimed police denied it a permit for a ‘peaceful’ protest against deportation.
A statement signed by Gambia Refugees Association – Europe Branch spokesman Yahya Sonko said: “The Gambia Refugees Association – Europe Branch in collaboration with Concerned Gambians Group in The Gambia is writing to express dismay at the decision of the Gambia Police Force for denying us a permit to hold a peaceful protest in wake of recent deportations especially from Germany.
“The Concerned Gambians Group has applied for a permit since 27th January 2021 but unfortunately received a reply on 31st March 2021 from the Police Management, signed by AIG Ebrima Bah, indicating that the police cannot grant us a permit due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
“Our position is that the Covid-19 restrictions are not being respected and are not implemented. The Government of Adama Barrow cannot use the police to deter us from protesting when they are the first to violate the restrictions. So why is the police using the Covid-19 restrictions to deter us from holding a peaceful protest? This is unfair as we have seen them granting permits to political parties to hold rallies, tours, congresses, meetings, etc including the President’s party. Also the police have granted permit to the musicians to launch their new Album on 9th April amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Secondly, why didn’t the police advise the govenment to tell the European Union to stop deportations due to the Covid-19 restrictions?
“Therefore, we are calling on all political party leaders to support us in this course and tell the government and the police the truth. Let the police issue us a permit or else we will do our peaceful protest without permit as guaranteed by the Constitution. We will not announce the date of protest but we will organize among ourselves and do the peaceful protest anytime from now if they refuse to issue us a permit.”
