Hundreds of Ghana Town residents faces risk of statelessness
Photo credit point newspaper
According to an assessment report submitted to the National Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday 11, February 2025, over five hundreds residents of Ghana Town in Brufut are at risk of being stateless.
The report stated that many of the people do not have any national documents of the Gambia or Ghana.
According to Media reports, the people of Ghana Town at the outskirt of Brufut were Ghanaian immigrants that settled there over five decades ago.
The assessment was conducted by the UN High Commission for Refugees, Gambia Food and Nutrition Association and the Gambia Commission for Refugees between 29 October to 1 November 2024.
The objective of the assessment was to understand the legal situation to provide solutions to it.
686 respondents from diverse age groups were interviewed in the report..
According to the report finings, 94.31 percent of respondents do not have any document from Ghana or any other country.
The report acknowledged that this posed challenges for them to have right of citizenship or access essential services.
It further revealed among the residents there are 434 parents and 1735 children including 842 boys and 893 girls.
The report found that 634 fathers were born in Ghana, 5 in Senegal, 47 in the Gambia whilst 637 mothers were born in Ghana, 3 in Senegal and 46 in the Gambia.
In the Gambian laws, being born in the Gambia by non-Gambian parents does not qualify one to become a citizen.
According to the report, the majority of the people considered the Gambia as their home which is about 98.8 percent. Less than one percent consider Ghana their homes.
Regarding parents documents issued by Ghana Government, only 337 and 298 fathers and mothers respondent are documented.
The finding of the report shows that 377 respondents do not hold ID cards, 257 hold valid or expired ID cards, formally issued during the President Jammeh regime, without being able to renew it.
Further on that, 55 percent of them do not possess a valid or expired national identity documents of the Gambia. Meanwhile, only 43 had Gambian passports that could not be renewed if they are expired.
“The President Barrow Government’s decision to stop ID and passport acquisition launched by the former regime is the principal cause of documents non-renewal by owners,” it added.
Upon the finding, the report recommended the need for legal reform so that people born to foreign parents on Gambian soil can secure citizenship.
The initiation of an awareness campaign to make people aware of access to citizenship as well as developing strategies that focus access to citizenship.
It added that international cooperation to address statelessness in the Gambia; besides, the Gambia Government and the Government of Ghana to facilitate naturalisation and documentation of the Ghana Town people.