On Thursday morning, the police brought up senior caregiver Sedia Kijera from the Haus am Mühbach in Kirchheim. The Gambian national was allowed to stay in Germany until this Thursday, when he was scheduled to be deported. Nevertheless, the 28-year-old Gambian refused to board the aircraft that was scheduled to transport him home, according to his attorney, Stefan Weidner.

After being brought to an arrest judge in Karlsruhe, Sedia is currently being held in Pforzheim’s deportation detention. In the residency camp where Sedia is being held, there were no restrictions on his freedom. He was able to receive visits and speak with freedom.

Attorney Weidner informed the daily Bietigheimer Zeitung that, “On the legal terms, everything went correctly.” Sedia still has a few weeks to determine if a hardship regulation, for instance, might be used. However, attorney Weidner did not elaborate on how such a process would be worked out.

A few people have started advocating for Sedia Kijera in the interim.

Politically, parliamentarians have questioned Justice Minister Marion Gentges about the matter. As far as attorney Weidner is concerned, the personnel at Haus am Mühbach in Kirchheim hold great regard for Kijera. He was fully staffed as a trained nurse, but on Thursday morning, during his early shift, he had been picked. This shows utter disrespect for the Gambian man who escaped destitution and a lack of opportunities in his home country.

Risk of deportation

The Karlsruhe Regional Council informed the Bietigheimer Zeitung newspaper that Kijera had been denied asylum. In 2017, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) denied his 2015 claim for asylum. That was Sedia’s first ultimatum to leave Germany, or else he would be deported to the Gambia if he left against his will.

Additionally, in 2021, the Federal Office denied another asylum application he had submitted the previous year. “Remedial measures had to be implemented,” the Karlsruhe Council declared, because Kijera had not seized the opportunity to leave Germany voluntarily. Additionally, it has come to light that Sedia was given a suspended sentence of one year and six months after being found guilty of possessing illegal drugs.

Consequently, the newspaper Bietigheimer Zeitung learned that there is “no perspective on a legal stay” for the Gambian. Sedia’s counsel, Weidner, emphasized that marijuana was the sole factor in Kijera’s case. He hasn’t turned violent or used strong drugs.

Since Sedia lost his travel documents, German officials are adamant that he be sent home. Sedia never went to get a passport, even though he was called to get fresh paperwork. Twice he had been called to answer questions concerning his identity before a Gambian official in Germany, but he had failed to show up. This was the chance to ascertain Sedia’s true origins, from Senegal or the Gambia. Therefore, the only people who could ask for asylum would be Gambians. Weidner acknowledges that Kijera was “ill advised” about these appointments and that he had been missing them.

Many deportations of Gambians and Senegalese

Sedia only made an appearance on the RP in 2021, having missed all of these chances. The Corona restrictions thwarted an attempt to repatriate him. Kijera contested the ruling before the administrative court in 2021, despite the fact that he had not filed any appeals against the refusal to give him asylum in 2017. This was turned down. He had sent an email on Thursday asking for proof against the deportation to the appropriate administrative court, but this had also been turned down.

Attorney Stefan Weidner, who represents Sedia Kijera, thinks that Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s trip to Senegal may have had an impact on the large number of Gambians being deported. He claims that the German Chancellor reached a deal with Senegal and Gambia in opposition to these two nations receiving a suitcase full of cash. In the past, this was not the case.

The attorney bemoans the fact that Kijera knows German and has nursing training. Deportations run counter to the justification of simultaneously transferring Mexican nurses to cover shortages in the nursing workforce. Attorney Weidner asserts that this reasoning is incoherent and unintelligible.