Gambian fishing village seeks elusive statehood

By AFP/Bekai NJIE

As Paul Techy queued with dozens of others in his coastal Gambian fishing village, he hoped to move one step closer towards finally belonging in the only country he had ever called home.

Gambian citizenship has long been an elusive goal for many residents of Ghana Town, most of whom were born in the tiny West African country but whose parents or grandparents emigrated from Ghana decades ago.

Lacking either Ghanaian or Gambian documentation, most are trapped in a legal limbo where they struggle to access basic services such as healthcare or formal employment.

"We recognise ourselves as Gambians, but Gambians don't recognise us as Gambians," said 46-year-old Techy, who was born in the village on the shores of the Atlantic.

"They said you are a Ghanaian born in The Gambia, you are still a foreigner... this is how they categorise us," he said.

Under The Gambia's constitution, a person is granted citizenship if they are born in the country -- but only if one of their parents is a Gambian citizen.

Ghana Town sprung up in the late 1950s, when a group of Ghanaian fishermen travelled to The Gambia in search of lucrative waters and a better market.

The village's cinder block and corrugated metal houses are now home to around 2,000 people, including many of the original fishermen's descendants.

The UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) says residents are "at risk of statelessness".

Being undocumented is not the same as being stateless, the UNHCR says, but having no legal records puts people at risk as they cannot prove links to any state.

Together with the Gambia Commission for Refugees, the UNHCR conducted an assessment in November to see if Ghana Town's residents could be considered for naturalisation.

"Most of their fundamental human rights like access to nationality and access to social amenities are somehow difficult," said Omar T. Camara, a government representative working with The Gambia Commission for Refugees.

Prevented from leaving

A team spent four days conducting interviews with residents such as Techy, after which conclusions and recommendations will be drawn up and sent to lawmakers in the parliament.

Camara said the exercise could pave the way for legal reform.

The UNHCR says that statelessness worldwide is driven by a number of factors including discrimination based on race or gender, as well as legislative shortcomings.

It estimated in November that there were nearly a million stateless people in Africa, including more than 930,000 in West Africa, leaving them vulnerable to marginalisation and abuse.

Millions more are at risk because of conflicts in the volatile Sahel region, it said.

While The Gambia has ratified two UN conventions on ending statelessness, there is no process for formally recognising stateless people in the country.

Ghana Town resident Gideon Money, 20, graduated top of his class and won a scholarship to study medicine in India, but said a lack of legal identity prevented him from going.

"My fellow students have left because they are termed as Gambians," he told AFP.

"For me, when I went to the immigration department, they said I am Ghanaian from Ghana Town and they denied me from getting a passport," he added.

'Foreigners'

For those of Ghana Town's residents who choose to stay, well-paid and stable jobs are often out of reach.

Mary Ennie, 44, said she had graduated from high school but could only make a meagre living as a hairdresser as she did not have a national ID card.

She worried for her six children who also lack legal Gambian identity, despite being born in the country.

Ennie said she even travelled to Ghana three times to try to find work there, but was told she couldn't as she was classed as Gambian.

Despite being given land when they first arrived, Ghana Town's residents say they must each pay a 2,500-dalasi ($35) yearly "alien permit" to prevent raids from the immigration department.

They say they also have to pay more money than Gambian citizens for medical care.

Kobina Ekaum, 79, arrived in Ghana Town as a child in the 1950s and went on to become the first "Alkalo", or head of the village.

"Imagine, since independence, we are still regarded as foreigners," he said despondently as he sat on a mattress on the floor of his home.