The President of The Gambia Yahya Jammeh has been in power for 22 years, since he took over in a military coup. He was defeated in the elections of December 2016 by Adama Barrow, but has been refusing to relinquish power. On 19th January Mr Barrow is due to take office, but due to the uncertainty around the situation, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has decided to intervene and has sent in military force. The purpose is to forcefully remove Mr Jammeh from office, should he not go of his own accord.
Due to the arrival of the military and the potential for violence, the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office has changed their travel advice to say they 'advise against all non essential travel'.
Unfortunately for us, whilst this FCO advice is in place, we are not able to go to The Gambia. However, we are in close contact with The Gunjur Project, the FCO, our insurance company, Thomas Cook and Girlguiding UK International Commissioner and are monitoring the situation closely.
We are hopeful for a speedy and positive outcome to this situation and our thoughts are with the people of The Gambia.
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