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Stockholm, 4 September 2020: Today, my organization Action for Humanity has facilitated the repatriation of 38 Gambian women including two children from Beirut, Lebanon and have arrived in Dakar, Senegal en route to their respective homes in the Gambia. Action for Humanity paid for the air tickets of each of the women as well as provided buses to transport them from Dakar airport to the Gambia. The girls were received at Dakar airport by a Gambian team serving as Project Managers for Action for Humanity in the Gambia.
Action for Humanity was founded by an award-winning Gambian woman based in Sweden Lovette Jallow in 2017. We first got involved in humanitarian work in Libya where it provided relief aid to migrants trapped in the crisis in that country. The organization the became involved with Gambian women in Lebanon in August 2020 following its release of a video about the ‘kafala’ system. The ‘kafala’ system is a scheme in the Middle East where migrant workers mainly from Africa are trafficked into various countries of the region to become construction or domestic workers. Usually the domestic workers are women who are lured with the promise of good paying jobs which in fact turns out to be a life of servitude, forced labour, rape, physical abuse, unpaid work and in some instances unpermitted removal of kidneys of victims.
Upon the release of our video, a group of Gambian women who were victims of the ‘kafala’ system in Lebanon reached out to Ms. Jallow to help them to establish contact with the Gambian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to repatriate them. These women had run away from their abusive employers while others were injured in the recent massive explosion in Beirut which left hundreds dead and thousands more injured. For more than nine months most of the women were unable to leave because their travel documents were seized by their abusive employers. The women expressed frustration at the lack of support from the Gambian Consul in Beirut, thus leaving them helpless and had to fend for themselves in quite difficult circumstances in Lebanon.
To fulfill our promise to these women, Lovette then contacted the foreign ministry in Banjul as well as a local organization in Lebanon that campaigns against the ‘kafala’ system. To our amazement, the foreign ministry was not forthcoming hence our decision to actively and fully undertake the issue of these women to repatriate them.
In order to be able to obtain the mandate and resources to carry out this urgent task, Lovette decided to present the matter with a budget before her Board of Directors for approval which was granted. The Board agreed that Action for Humanity would undertake the repatriation of these women in full at its own cost. Preparations were immediately put into motion. The women were informed that Acton for Humanity would pay for their air tickets and they should engage the Gambian Consul to prepare the necessary paperwork for their repatriation.
Another bump was hit once again as the Consul told the women that even if the paperwork was done, they would have to agree for the Gambia Government to buy their air tickets at an unknown future date. Undeterred, Acton for Humanity went ahead to obtain the air tickets which the women welcomed with appreciation and gratitude.
After initial rejection of Action for Humanity’s initiative to pay for the air tickers, the Gambia Government eventually capitulated by allowing the girls to travel on our arrangement. This is how all of the 38 women and children arrived at Blaise Diagne International Airport in Dakar on Friday 4th September 2020 from where they immediately joined our buses to Banjul. However, we must report our shock and dismay that even though the Gambia Government is aware of our entire arrangements, they still went ahead to provide buses for these women at the airport. It was not until after some tense moments that the women were eventually allowed to board our buses to travel to their respective homes in the Gambia, with the Government buses trailing behind them.
Upon arrival at home, Action for Humanity will provide social, economic and financial support to these women including providing them counselling services. We have also hired a lawyer to look after their rights and interests and to ensure justice for them for the abuse meted out to them in Lebanon. We hope to the Gambia Government will provide us the necessary cooperation to ensure these objectives are met.
Action for Humanity wishes to take this opportunity to highlight the high incidence of human trafficking in the country and to urge the Gambia Government to take urgent steps to tackle the menace. Above all, there is need for the Government to undertake meaningful programs and services that will empower the youth and women to find dignified livelihoods in the country as a prevention against human trafficking. As citizens, it is necessary that everyone joins the fight against human trafficking knowing full well that the next victim may be yourself or your loved one. Traffickers are smart criminals who have the ability to make innocent people believe what is not true hence no one is fully immune from their diabolical schemes.
In conclusion, Action for Humanity is pleased at the widespread support and encouragement it has received from the diversity of Gambians over the past weeks as we worked to salvage our fellow women. We appreciate this support immensely. We wish to state that Action for Humanity is not a competitor or a rival of the Gambia Government. We wished to have received the full cooperation of the Gambia Government from the onset which would have served to save resources and maximize our efforts for the benefit of our citizens. Therefore, we wish to still seek the cooperation of the Government, more so, the National Agency against Trafficking In Persons (NAATIP) in its fight against this heinous crime.
I wish to also express gratitude to my Board of Directors and the Swedish Government for their support and cooperation. I wish the repatriated women well with their families.
Lovette Jallow
Executive Director, Action for Humanity