By Makutu Manneh
The Gambia’s immigration authorities said they had intercepted 14 migrants believed to be preparing to undertake the irregular migration route known locally as the “backway” during an operation in the North Bank Region.
In a statement, the Gambia Immigration Department said officers from its North Bank Region Border Patrol Unit, working with personnel at the Barra Immigration Post, carried out an intelligence-led operation in Bakalar Village in Upper Niumi District that led to the interception.
According to the department, the group consisted of foreign nationals, including nine women, one of whom is pregnant, and two minors. Officials said the migrants were found in the compound of a landlord identified as Lamin Jammeh.
Immigration authorities said preliminary findings suggested that the migrants had been accommodated without notifying the village head, or Alkalo, as required under the Registration of Aliens Act of 1977.
The landlord and the migrants were taken to the Barra Immigration Post for preliminary questioning, the department said, adding that further procedures could include transferring the migrants to the Tanji Migration Centre.
The immigration department said the operation was part of its broader efforts to dismantle migrant-smuggling networks while “safeguarding human dignity and upholding the rule of law.”
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