The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has yesterday 13th August repatriated 59 out of the 87 Sierra Leoneans trafficked to Senegal. Initially, the number to be repatriated was 61, but only 59 came. Reasons why the two were unable to make the flight could not be proffered, but IOM Communications Manager Alfred Fonnah said they would have to enquire and opined: “Probably it is as a result of some procedural lapses.” The Sierra Leone Ambassador to the Republic of Senegal, HE Alhaji Brima Elvis Koroma, said with support from the Government of Senegal, the UNHCR, the UN-Women and the EU, the IOM undertook the repatriation process of the rescued trafficked Sierra Leoneans.
Ambassador Koroma and the Head of Chancery, Saidu Timbo, bid farewell to the 59 Sierra Leonean migrants on board the ASKY flight to Freetown after successfully going through their coronavirus tests. In accordance with COVID-19 health regulations, IOM conducted the test on all 59. Only those proven negative were allowed to board the chartered flight. The 59 arrived at the Freetown International Airport in Lungi at around 1:30 pm, where they were again tested and given food and onward transport.
On Wednesday 24th June 2020, news reached the Sierra Leone Embassy in Dakar that the Faidherbe Police Search Brigade in Dakar arrested 87 Sierra Leoneans and dismantled a vast network of migrants of the largest trail of human trafficking in the country. The police were able to locate three houses: in Diamaniodio, Medina and Malika, with close to 35 migrants. Among the 87 apprehended were 72 women and 15 men. The victims were said to have each paid between $600 to $700, equivalent to 350.000 to 400,000cfa.
Out of the 87 arrested, the Embassy of Sierra Leone in Dakar verified that 61 are Sierra Leoneans and willing to return home. OG/14/08/2020
By Ophaniel Gooding