FOROYAA has been speaking to many young people who are wrongly accused of not having skills and are not interested in employing those skills to escape poverty. Many escape the frustration of the lack of permanent employment as the basis for their poverty.
They argue that the vous they form are mere hideouts for them due to inconsistency in the availability of contracts. According to them they often get few low paying contracts in a month and have to spend many days sitting with other friends as they wait for possible contracts to engage themselves. They argue that the greatest source of their frustration is the alienation they suffer from their very families in particular and the society at large whose members continue to point accusing fingers on them of being lazy and unprepared to should responsibility.
They claim that going to Europe has a push factor from society. Family members are not willing to put monies together to enable them to run a small or medium size enterprise. The trust is not just there to put such money in their hands.
On the contrary they are willing to put money together to put it in the hands of agents who may take part payment as they send them to certain destination. Upon arrival they may reach out to family members to pay the additional sum to enable them to go further to their final destination in Europe.
They argue very strongly that the Gambian youth is faced with unemployment and underemployment problems which turn them into social outcasts. Interestingly enough they cannot overcome such alienation in order to receive assistance unless they show commitment that they are ready to take the dangerous journey to greener pastures which may take them to the bottom of the ocean as their last destination.
As we enter the new year, society should stop the blame game and look at the youth unemployment and underemployment problem in a realistic manner.
