Gambia’s foreign affairs ministry has issued a statement on Monday over what it called urgent plans to airlift Gambian citizens from troublespots in the Middle East.
It follows increasing fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and other parts of the region wracked by escalating conflict in recent weeks.
Gambians formed part of the growing population of African students and workers in the region.
Beginning with Kenya, more African countries including The Gambia are organising the evacuation of their citizens from Lebanon which has been the target of air strikes and a ground invasion by the Israeli Defense Force to deal with Iran-backed Hezbollah with whom it had traded rockets since a deadly Hamas incursion inside Israel on October 7th last year.
Close to one thousand people have been killed in sustained Israeli air strikes in Lebanon where a sizeable population of Africans lived but have been forced to flee the unrest. There are reports of their fleeing Lebanese employers leaving stranded Africans to their fate.
Some Sierra Leoneans have complained of being stranded in Lebanon where they accused the authorities of ignoring their plight.
However, there has no report of casualties among the African community.
The Gambian foreign affairs ministry said after carefully monitoring the escalating situation in Beirut, other parts of Lebanon and the Middle East, the government has set in motion the process to evacuate Gambians trapped there with immediate effect.
It has encouraged all Gambians living in Lebanon to contact the directorate of migration at the foreign affairs ministry in Banjul and its honorary consulate general in Beirut with their passports and other contact details for processing ahead of their eventual evacuation.
”All Gambians living in Lebanon are once again urged to immediately register their presence with the Honorary Consulate General and on the WhatsApp group created for Gambian citizens in Lebanon +961 3 128 864 to ensure easy and timely communication with Gambian authorities” said the statement.
The ministry said it would continue to closely monitor Lebanon and the Middle East over the safety and well-being of Gambian citizens.
WN/as/APA