By Ishmael Bayoh, Information Attaché, Sierra Leone Embassy Dakar, Senegal
The Sierra Leone Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, on Thursday, 6th March 2025, repatriated 47 Sierra Leoneans deported from Mauritania.
These Sierra Leoneans were deported by the Mauritania authorities to the Senegal border. They eventually made their way to the Sierra Leone Embassy in Dakar. Largely women and children, the embassy received them and, amidst strenuous conditions, provided shelter for them at the embassy’s premises.
Speaking to them before their departure, Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to Senegal, HE Ibrahim Turay, told them about the diplomatic interventions made when news reached the embassy of their arrest. He said with the Acting Head of Chancery, Ms. Evelyn T. Akakpo, they engaged both the Embassy of Mauritania in Dakar and then the IOM. He also disclosed that the Sierra Leonean Consul in Mauritania was contacted, where it was disclosed that the authorities were deporting those without visas and residential permits. The consulate in Nouakchott said they made a representation for eleven of those whose visas and residential permits were to be renewed.
“Since you came, we have accommodated 31 of you, the women and children, here at the embassy, and there were others in other areas. The conditions were not good, and because it would take time for our partner’s intervention, we as the embassy decided to hire a bus so that you could go back home safely,” Ambassador Turay informed them.
He cautioned those intending to travel to always make sure they follow the immigration policies and to ensure they always regularize their status. The ambassador sent a caution to Sierra Leoneans back home to frown against those luring them to undertake journeys in the guise of employment or registering them with the IOM for beneficial purposes. He made it clear that the embassy got information on some people involved in trafficking persons for whom they would work with the authorities to prosecute them.
Ambassador Turay called on them as they return home; they should ensure they make use of the government’s free education for their children and adults to engage in meaningful activities.
