By Alieu Jallow
For many young Gambians, Europe remains the ultimate destination—a symbol of hope, wealth, and a better life. But behind this widespread illusion lies a far harsher reality, one that has left many dreams shattered, lives lost, and families broken.
Yaya Sowe, regional youth leader for Kombo South and entrepreneur, knows this reality all too well. In 2014, he was once tempted by the idea of irregular migration. Misleading social media posts and the influence of friends already in Europe lured him and others into embarking on the journey. After nine months of hardship and failed attempts to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa, Yaya returned home.
His turning point came after being selected among 127 young people across West Africa to participate in the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI). Now in his third year, first semester at the University of The Gambia, Yaya has trained over 250 young people in entrepreneurship and travelled to more than three European countries. He now works to raise awareness among youth in his community.
“Where I am now, I’m doing small business and food processing, so Europe is not Paradise! Europe is battle battlefield, what the Europeans portray in the media or what our friends say in the media, and the reality is different. It is not like what you think, they are portraying a good image in the social media but in the reality, that’s not what is there so my advice to the youth, I can’t stop them from going but lets use the right way and also lets play our part to national development, whatever we can do here, we can do it and gain from it, let go for it and do it”.
Similarly, Bubacarr Saidykhan’s story is one of repeated failure and ultimate transformation. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to reach Europe, he redirected his energy into entrepreneurship, turning waste materials such as car tyres and bottles into furniture and reusable items. Saidykhan, who has now established a skills academy, has trained over 300 young people—some of whom have already started businesses and are making progress in their ventures.
“I was training young ones but the first 60 people I trained, they just concluded their exams and now, they are waiting for graduation but I can say Alhamdulillahi, I am in Europe in Africa especially the Gambia training these 60 youth with skills and go to their families while some people are making the same product and sell and pay their school fees, their brothers expenses and even their parents’ medication and others. This is something that relieved me, and I said to myself, if I know I’ll not even embark on the “backway”, I will stay and start this before this year or last year. Don’t force success; the only thing, success is step by step, and we can have it in this country. We have to change our mindset,” he states.
Ebrima Jallow wasn’t so fortunate. After surviving a perilous journey that claimed the lives of close friends, he returned home disillusioned but determined. Like many others, Jallow never initially intended to migrate, but peer pressure, family expectations, and social stigma eventually forced him to sell his business and take the route.
He recounted six years of regret, without his business, away from family, and imprisoned multiple times. He described the harrowing experiences that nearly cost him his life. For him, Europe had seemed like paradise, where the money bag was simply waiting to be picked up and sent home.
“I expect that I am going and once I get to Europe, help myself and my parents. I sold my business and embarked on the journey because I heard Europe is Paradise, but God has decided that I will not get to Europe but in my mind and hope once I get there, everything will be roses for me, but I failed to realise that what I left behind is where my success lies. I want to advise my youth to be mindful of this perilous journey, for it’s more deadly and that if you something meaningful you doing or engaged, try to strive because for my experience on this journey has taught me a lesson and is something that do not sit well in my mind so I urge everyone of us to strive to make in our endeavours and undertakings” he says
Mariama Ceesay shared her harrowing experience of crossing the Sahara Desert. After falling into a coma for three days, she was nearly buried alive. Today, Mariama urges young people to focus on building opportunities at home and encourages safe, orderly, and regular migration practices.
“This journey is dangerous and challenging and I urge my fellow youth that travel opportunity is God’s destiny and if he so wills, anytime, you will be but my fellow Let’s endeavour to exercise patience till God wills our travel time to travel safely, so let’s try to see how we can minimised the risk of the “backway” because there is no gains in the “backway” unless endless sufferings” she appeals
Alagie Jarju, Executive Director of the National Youth Council, underscored the persistent risks young Gambians continue to take through irregular migration, despite years of awareness campaigns. He noted that these efforts often fall short of dispelling the deeply rooted perception of Europe as a “promised land,” particularly because many youth live in dire conditions with few prospects. He emphasised that awareness alone is not enough without tangible hope and opportunity.
“Unfortunately, all of us the focus is among the few Gambians who gone and are doing well that is an example society cites, the son, the daughter of neighbour X is gone and is doing well and remitting money back home but the son the daughter of neighbour S who has actually did not died but is currently in Europe struggling for the past 4, 5 or 10 years not able to have a document and not able to have access to comeback to his country even parents, siblings or wife pass away no one talks about that so the focus is only on few that had gone and made it, these are the one society gives as examples and that continues to wrongly inspire young Gambians to continue to believe is only better out there, I think this is the more the reason why from our end we cannot and we will need to continuing sensitizing our young ones to understand the dangers but beyond the dangers, we also getting understand that there are opportunities int this country, most of them will tell you, what im doing in this country, there is nothing for me. We say no, there is a lot that is available that you can do in this country and from our end we keep citing people that came into this country from the subregion. They ca young, they came vulnerable but with the smallest opportunities available in the Gambia, with their hardwork, with their perseverance, today theare at another level far better than wherethey started fro, probably five- ten years ago”
Addressing the Council’s efforts, Jarju highlighted several youth empowerment initiatives in entrepreneurship, skills development, and civic engagement designed to offer viable alternatives to migration.
“From the Tekifi project has ended not long ago, to IOM different reintegration projects that they have, the AVRR or loans the and grants provided by the ministry of Youth and sports through NEDI. We have seen Higher Education trying to ensure that skills training is revived as some of the training centres that were dormant, we seen them putting capacity in those training centre in ensuring they are revived and they continue to train young people to have those skills that they will to be able to thrive good in the Gambia but beyond the Gambia when the u leave the soil of this country, they still have the opportunity to work” he outlined
When asked whether the government is doing enough to tackle structural challenges such as unemployment and inadequate education, Jarju responded candidly.
“ I think at the level of government a lot is being done to tackle some of this and I think it started probably a year or two ago when the president launched the national employment action plan targeting to employ over 150,000 young people over the next four years. I think it’s an ambitious plan at the level of government to ensure that young people are taking of the streets and employment is created for a lot of our young people. The challenge sometimes at the level of government is having the needed resources and on time to able to deliver. Some of these interventions are donor supported like the project the president recently launched with MOHERST almost a 400 million dalasis project funded through the World Bank and of course, other partners with ITC and IMO is usually EU-funded so that’s the level of intention from the government to ensure that unemployment is brought down to mininal accepted level especially amongst young people”. He states
Muhammad Lamin Dibba, a Gambian migration specialist based in Switzerland, elaborated on the gap between perception and reality.
“ the fact of the matter is legal employment in Europe is often inaccessible, especially without documentation and qualification recognised in Europe. For example in Spain and in Italy where migrnats from the global south work in the agricultural sector under modern
Dibba also emphasized how European migration policies and strict border control systems contribute to the exploitation and vulnerability of undocumented migrants.
“According to Doctors Without Borders, European policies on migration systematically and violently target migrants and trap them unsafe situations which is very unfortunate.
Furthermore, undocumented immigrants do have access to basic rights such as healthcare, education and legal employment, those who are employed are not paid on the value of their labour and exploited. According to the Global Impact, every migrant have the right to be protected and respected irrespective of their migration status so therefore, the European policy in this sense is discriminatory and therefor do not Protect the rights and dignity of migrants.
He stressed the need for governments in origin countries to address the root causes of irregular migration—by investing in sustainable economic development, youth empowerment, and infrastructure to make staying at home more appealing than leaving.
“Undoubtedly the root cause of migration often lies in the lack of opportunities at home especially in the Gambia. Therefore, the onus lies in the government to drive economic policies that creates sustainable jobs, education and also infrastructure to make life sustainable to make life sustainable and appealing for young people. Young people are not only future leaders but vital stakeholders in today’s national development therefore the government need a progressive youth policy that drives economic growth and development so that young people could stay and contribute to the economic development of the Gambia”. He states
As more young people speak out about the painful truths behind irregular migration, one message resonates clearly: Europe is not paradise. For many, the dream has turned into a nightmare and the real hope may lie in building a future at home.
This reportage was produced with the support of the Informa project, funded by the European Union.
