The EU delegation in The Gambia, working with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Gambian authorities, held a two-day workshop in Banjul to validate a report assessing how the country’s laws deal with crimes committed at sea.
The meeting took place on 30 and 31 July at the OceanBay Hotel and focused on a “Maritime Crime Legal Assessment Report”, the EU Delegation informed on Tuesday.
It was organised under the €20 million EU-funded Safe Seas for Africa programme, which covers West and Central Africa and focuses on strengthening maritime legal frameworks and tackling offences including drug and arms smuggling and piracy.
The workshop reviewed gaps that can affect the prosecution of offences at sea and set out technical assistance needed by national agencies.
Raphaël Brigandi, Deputy Head of Mission at the EU delegation, said The Gambia’s coastline can be used for criminal activity, including drugs “going to and from Europe” and illegal migration towards the Canary Islands.
He added that arrests at sea can fail to lead to convictions if cases do not hold up in court.
Support for prosecutions and sea patrols
Coumba Diop, head of UNODC’s programme office in The Gambia, said the workshop was intended both to present the legal assessment and to map support needed to strengthen the country’s response to maritime crime, UNODC’s statement said.
Deputy National Security Adviser Saikou Ceesay, speaking for the Gambian government, said the maritime economy is vital to the country’s sustainable economic development and that reforms were under way through operational, institutional and legal changes.
Ceesay referred to The Gambia’s 2025 criminal law amendments and said the workshop would help ensure legal frameworks are up to date to criminalise and punish crimes at sea.
The partnership also includes operational support such as joint regional sea patrols, specialised training and the delivery of two rigid hull inflatable boats to the Gambian Navy.
