Over 1,600 Dutch to be brought back from Gambia due to political unrest

Travel organizations TUI and Corendon are sending a total of eight flights to Gambia today to pick up some 1,600 Dutch vacationing in the African country. Unrest threatens in Gambia because president Yahya Jammeh is refusing to make way for his elected successor, ANP reports.

Corendon is sending three flights to the African country, departing from the Netherlands at 6:00, 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. and will all return today. The fist plane is expected to take off in Gambia around 1:00 p.m. Corendon is bringing a total of 600 people back in those three planes. That leaves about 250 Corendon clients still in Gambia. The travel organization hopes to come up with a solution for them today.

TUI is sending five planes to Gambia today, though could not say what times they will be departing. All five flights will also be returning to the Netherlands today, carrying 815 Dutch and a number of TUI Belgium clients.

Gambia is currently on the verge of violent unrest because president Jammeh refuses to cede his power after losing the Adama Barrow elections on December 1st. He is trying to have the election results be declared invalid by the supreme court and implemented a state of emergency.

On Tuesday the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs updated its travel advice for Gambia, changing the color code from yellow (safety risk) to orange (only necessary trips). The Ministry informed all Dutch living in Gambia, and who registered this with Foreign Affairs, about the situation via an SMS.