Incredulous! The editor  claims "... every human being is entitled to
freedom of movement" yet he dare label those leaving ILLEGAL. Perhaps he
should be reminded that people do not migrate for fun. They migrate to
"greener pastures", safer living conditions, to places where they can
have a fighting chance for a dignified life.They leave because they do
not want to become the volunteer labor force at the President's farm.
They risk high seas,  scotching deserts and chaotic western cities just
to live in dignity. They work long hours doing everything from farm work
to rocket science. The little money they get is often sent to their love
ones for school fees, fish money, dowry, Hajj payments and Tobaski rams.
They buy land to build homes, employ the many builders, carpenters,
painters and electricians in the country today.  If anything these are
the patriots of our time.


Gambians are as proud and hardworking as anyone I have met over my 30-yr
sojourn. However, they are not proud when:

  * a young man riding his bicycle home is beaten to death by state
    security agents because he happen to be on road reserved for the
    President's use.
  * anyone including, journalists, school teachers and imams can be
    kidnapped and detained for months by their elected government
    without ever being brought to a court of law
  * they see the President declaring hectares of farmland and
    residential areas his personal property when majority of Gambians do
    not have more than a basketball court to their name
  * 20,000 youth "volunteers", cabinet ministers, civil servants, and
    the security forces (on government payroll and time) are made to
    work on the President's personal farm.
  * a Cabinet Minister can be charged with economic crimes and thrown in
    jail without bail for failing to clear 20 containers of fertilizer
    for Kanilai Family Farm (the President's personal property)
  * when a republican president behaves like he owns the country and the
    people are treated as his personal servants

In response to the editor calls " for every sober minded Gambian both at
home and abroad to stand up in defence of the truth." I hope he and the
authorities  can handle the truth. The truth is that President Jammeh's
own published words and deeds are the best affidavit of support for
Gambian asylum seekers. With each year's passing, regular kidnappings,
disappearances and even death tell the whole world that most Gambian
asylum seekers are not pleasure seekers.

Malanding

  courtesy: http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/article/patriotism-revisited-1


    Patriotism revisited

Africa <http://observer.gm/africa/news> » Gambia
<http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/news>
Wednesday, October 09, 2013


    *Editorial*


*It is a fact *that The Gambia belongs to Gambians both at home and
abroad. No matter where we find ourselves as Gambians, this is our
country and we should be proud of it. Every person has the right to
leave his/her country of origin and reside in another country legally.
There is nothing wrong with that, as every human being is entitled to
freedom of movement.


*It is however* unfortunate that some unscrupulous Gambians, who
illegally leave this country to join a society in which they are never
accepted, are hell bent on slandering the decent government and people
of this country just to achieve their individual selfish interests.


*The exposure o*f another asylum scam by state intelligence operatives
shows how entrenched this practice is among some Gambians; especially
government's political opponents, who use their status to lobby for
permanent stay in the West by creating information that is not only
misleading but untrue. More or less, such bogus asylum claims are bent
on discrediting the government under the leadership of President Jammeh,
especially in the eyes of international development partners, who
unfortunately, believe such attestations.


*It is a glaring* fact that such activities have indeed succeeded in
creating more government foes while at the same time seriously hurting
the country's economic development process as more investors and
development partners tend to believe that the attestations made by those
unpatriotic Gambians in search of political asylum by all means
necessary clearly represent the status quo on the ground. The time
therefore has come for every sober minded Gambian both at home and
abroad to stand up in defence of the truth.


*The current leadership* has advanced greatly in maximizing the growth
potentials of this country. The series of development projects that have
opened up windows of opportunities for Gambians are numerous. Besides
all these, the leadership has initiated a series of self-help projects
that if utilised can lead to earning a reasonable livelihood.


*It is therefore* important to note that it is a moral obligation upon
each and every Gambia to partake in the ongoing national development
process. More importantly, the youths have to realise that it is on
their shoulders that the future of the country hangs. Venturing into
agricultural production, the output of which will help generate income
for an honest livelihood, learning a trade, or petty business among
other things will indeed produce a prosperous future.


*Venturing into**illegal *migration simply means you are denying your
self a sense of belonging. This is because you reject where you belong
to and force yourself into a society in which you will never be
accepted. You will simply be treated as an uninvited refugee at a rich
man's gate and hence survive at the expense of your dignity, personality
and worth.  What then is the benefit of tarnishing the image of your own
country? The enabling environment is already in place for a progressive
future, let us amalgamate our efforts to complement those of the
government to accomplish our development aspirations.

Author: *Daily Observer*

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