Senegalese Take Refuge At Embassy http://allafrica.com/stories/200306110013.html The Daily Observer (Banjul) NEWS June 11, 2003 Posted to the web June 11, 2003 By Modika Bah & Pa Malick Faye Banjul Hundreds of Senegalese nationals based in and around the Greater Banjul Area have assembled at their High Commissioner behind the Pipeline Mosque with their belongings ready to leave The Gambia. Most of them are youths. They say they want to leave because they are concerned about their safety in The Gambia in the wake of the recent football trouble. Some of them pointedly said their return to Senegal would be temporary and that they hope to The Gambia when the security situation improves. Conservative estimates put at 400,000 the number of Senegalese living in The Gambia. Most of them are in gainful employment and their abrupt departure will cause severe economic loss to themselves and the local economy. The Senegalese taking refuge at the High Commission said they wanted a speedy resolution to the crisis. They registered their disappointment over the way their High Commissioner has handled the situation since the crisis started. One of them, Salieu Mbowe, said, "since we arrived here, we have seen neither the High Commissioner nor any senior staff of the embassy and each day we are told to register to enable them to arrange transport for us but until now this did not happen. Our Foreign minister was here with a special flight but failed to take along any of us which should not be the case." National Assembly Minority leader, Halifa Sallah, who visited the Senegalese, called for a better understanding between the two countries. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Copyright © 2003 The Daily Observer. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~