Experts alarmed over 9,000 Gambian ‘backway’ arrivals in Europe

The European Union documented 9,000 arrivals for Gambian migrants in 2023, against the return of 600 to Banjul, who they say, have exhausted legal remedies to stay in Europe. These returns were made through multiple chartered flights and regular commercial flights from the EU to The Gambia spread over the period seven years.

“We are losing a lot of skilled workers to Europe, including the best brains and able-bodied men who are supposed to work in this country. It is also leading to loss of educated brains, either through trainings abroad or seeking employment opportunities there,” said Mr Essa Njie, a lecturer at the University of The Gambia (UTG) and currently a PhD candidate in tertiary education, University of Denver, USA.

Abdoulie Kurang, also a lecturer, Development Studies Unit, University of The Gambia, lamented this outflow as alarming for The Gambia: “...the unmet promises of the incumbent political dispensation in tackling poverty, unemployment, corruption, and stimulating growth has surfaced in growing disillusion amongst young Gambians. This has spurred a new dynamic of mass emigration amongst skilled and educated Gambians. In other words, the brains needed to stimulate Gambia’s development.”

Mr Kurang, who is also a PhD candidate at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, said the mass migration of Gambian youth to Europe and America cites to longstanding governance and development deficits in the country.  He cited the 2011 scenario when Libya’s civil conflict opened gateways for human smuggling - Gambia was amongst the top five nations in the number of citizens crossing the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy.

This dynamic of emigrants largely consisted of semi-skilled, unemployed or underemployed youth. As such, social vulnerabilities caused by poverty, and unemployment, according to Mr Kurang, were frequently-cited as push factors for this trend. Additionally, human rights violations that characterised the 22-year reign of Jammeh pushed the disillusioned youth bulge to move abroad. Hence a resurgence of a similar trend seven years into political transition doesn’t speak well to the current government policies on tackling youth migration to Europe.

Mr Essa Njie, also added his voice: “This is really not good for the country because we need the youth to stay back home and contribute to development, but only when the right economic environment is created for them to excel, harness their potentials and be motivated to stay and earn decent living in their own country...”

“But if these things are lacking, as a result of ineffective and corrupt leadership in place, then we expect nothing but for a mass outflow of youths in search of better lives. Staying in their country of origin under such conditions only encourages them to participate in uprisings, political upheaval, or street crimes like theft, banditry, or drugs, hence rising crime rates,” Njie elaborated.

Even where remittances are contributing to about 50 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, these two experts contend that it doesn’t make up for the loss of the thousands of lives through such perilous journeys to Europe. Dozens of migrant boats that left the shores of Gambia for Europe never reached their destination, neither have they been accounted for anywhere else. Thousands of skeletal remains lined desert routes through the Sahara, excluding those trapped elsewhere in Libya or other coastal countries bordering the Red Sea.

“Many times, we tend to focus on remittances received from the Diasporan youths, forgetting the loss of lives in thousands through such perilous journeys. To what extent do they become successful in Europe? How many of them have succeeded in cultivating productive lives in Europe... or, succeeded in uplifting living standards of their families, and their financial situations back home? This migration is just contributing to intergenerational poverty for The Gambia, with really limited exceptions to the rule,” Mr Essa Njie explained.

In 2016, with birth of New Gambia (locally dubbed, but meaning dawn of democratic governance and development), there appeared to be a pause to this phenomena. For the masses, new Gambia was beyond a regime change but hopes for prosperous future — of democratic governance, growth and social progress, according to Mr Kurang.

He blames poor governance and underdevelopment for the enduring push factors for emigration amongst young Gambians.