By Nelson Manneh
Mr Bubacarr Fofana has told Foroyaa that he is alive but also feels as if he is a dead man walking as he recalled the demise of his two brothers in the Backway Journey to Europe.
“I have lost everything. I lost two of my biological brothers,” said Bubacarr Fofana.
Bubacar was with his brothers on the same route using the high seas aspiring to get to Europe. The route is locally called Backway. He witnessed the traumatic incident in which their boat capsized and his brothers lost their lives.
The 24-year-old said at least 55 other migrants including his two brothers boarded a boat controlled by smugglers from the Gambia to Spain. The native of Jarra explained that at the time of their departure they never informed their parents about their journey because they don’t want them to discourage them from embarking on the journey. He said their parents don’t appreciate the idea of Backway and they would have stopped them.
“One week before we departed we left home and went and lived with a friend who was part of the journey too.”
“They were too young; the sea was too rough”
He stated that the boat was overcrowded and whike travelling in the deep sea in the night, the vessel capsized because it was overloaded.
Fifteen illegal migrants, including Fofana, and at least forty migrants wete trapped beneath the sunken vessel. Babucarr and thirteen of his colleagues were three of just fourteen to survive.
Fofana musters the strength and courage to describe the moments leading up to the tragedy.
“As we approached Spain, the boat began to fall apart,” he recalled.
“My brothers were slumbering when the boat turned over. I was holding one of them in my hand. I knew I could swim. That is how I survived. Unfortunately, it was not the case for my brothers. They were young; the sea was too rough,” he added.
Alone, Fofana swam to the shore, making his way on foot and with the help of a Spanish motorist to the town in Spain, where he met staff from the Migrant Response Centre of the International Organization for Migration.
As it gets cold in the Ocean, the voices of young Gambians continue to be heard in the middle of the ocean as they persistently smuggled their way to get to Europe.
Despite the overwhelming reports on the number of young people syung in the ocean, the fear does not stop others from venturing into this life-bet journey.
The youthful population in the Gambia continues to rupture in the ocean in search of a greener pasture.
This journey to Europe, commonly known as the ‘Back-way Journey’ was not rampant like it is now, initially Gambians travel to other African countries to join a boat to Europe. But now the narration has changed, Gambians now launch their journeys from the coastal settlements direct to Spain.
Over the past few years, the pursuit for socio-economic advancement, especially among the youth, has driven many to undertake irregular migration. Over 50,000 Gambians arrived in Europe by irregular means between 2014 and 2022, with many others in Africa along the Central Mediterranean Route opting for voluntary return, but this year the number has surged, raising an alarm to the Government and other concerned Gambians.
Gambians who have made their way to Germany through the back-way and are deported, said they had experienced violence, harassment, aggression in the hands of adults at some point over the course of their journey. Women reported sexual abuse during irregular migration – often multiple times and in multiple locations.
The returnees said at some point of their journey they had paid smugglers money, leaving many in debt under ‘pay as you go’ arrangements and vulnerable to abuse, abduction and trafficking.
Children and teenagers steal money and sneak away without telling their families. The younger the migrant the less likely they are aware of all the risks and the complex political, security and economic situations of the countries they are entering.
Despite the high waves and vicious rocks that await them, hundreds of Gambians gather at the coastal areas to take small boats to the sea where they join a bigger boat and navigate to the Spanish island chain off the Atlantic coast of Africa.
In August, September and part of October this year, the number of Gambians who ventured into the back-way journey surpassed the previous months of the year.
“Many of our young people who smuggled to Europe accept the fact that the Back-Way journey carry’s extraordinary risks, and is the worst one can embark on,” said Alagie Darboe, a native of Bakau.
Mr Darboe said the young people are leaving because of lack of jobs and other financial opportunities in both the rural and urban areas, lack of adequate support to farming which is being badly affected by climate change and because they see a better life in Europe.
“The Gambia’s agricultural policy must increasingly focus on benefitting women farmers. Women and families left behind by migrating husbands can be at greater risk of poverty, discrimination, gender-based violence and vulnerability from conflict and disasters. Specific approaches are needed to understand and address these emerging trends,” he said.
The Sahara is a desert spanning North Africa. With an area of 9,200,000 square kilometres, it is the largest hot desert in the world and the third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic.
Mr Alasana Jarju, a deportee, said the extreme heat and arid conditions of the Sahara Desert have killed hundreds of migrants trying to reach Libya and European countries, some of whom are abandoned there by unscrupulous smugglers.
Research has indicated that from 2014 to mid-2018, 16,850 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Many migrants die crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
Jarju said the other risk is exploitation by people smugglers.
“Smugglers are criminals who pretend that both the journey and settling in Europe are easy in order to get money, regardless of what may actually happen to migrants.
Knowing smugglers personally does not mean they will be reliable: even if smugglers know the migrant’s family and friends they can still exploit them and put them in dangerous situations,” he said.
Jarju explained that smugglers may demand ransoms from family members when migrants run out of money and can no longer pay; they can be very violent and even kill migrants.
There are many stories of migrants being kidnapped when crossing through countries such as Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Libya. Kidnappers often torture migrants and call their families so they can hear what is happening and demand money for the safe release of the migrant.
Jarju said a Gambian police officer from Kiang had to sell his land because his brother, who had taken the back-way, was kidnapped along the lane.
“Migrants are also raided by bandits as they travel through the desert and often lose the few belongings they have. Instead of supporting their family, migrants place a financial burden on their families,” he said.
He said one of his friends and his brother were kidnapped and robbed along the border of Burkina Faso and Niger.
“Their parents sent ransom money, but it wasn’t enough for both of them so the kidnappers kept them and asked his family to pay a certain amount of money,” he said.
He said the irregular migration journey is risky for children.
“There have been many reports of children going missing. Minors are forced to work to pay back smugglers for the costs of their journey, and are then at risk of sexual and labour exploitation,” he added.
He said women experience physical and psychological abuse, torture, rape and enslavement. Perpetrators include criminal gangs, smugglers, traffickers, border guards, police and fellow migrants.
The Trauma of Irregular Migration In Jambur Village
About Forty-Two youths all from Jambur Village, West Coast Region, were reported missing as they embarked on the regular migration.
These youths embarked on this risk Back-Way Journey a few months ago and the boat they were in was reported missing in the sea and the communication chain between the migrants and their relatives’ chopped off.
An anonymous native of Jambur Village, who spoke to this medium, said he has two of his brothers who were part of the forty-two youths from Jambur whose boat got missing.
“This is a tragedy in Jambur. None of us is ready to talk about this because it causes a lot of setbacks to the village. Many of the youths who left did not inform their parents that they were embarking on the journey. Some of them informed their friends and went, after a few weeks we could not hear from them, we later received information that a boat that was carrying migrants from the Gambia was missing,” he said.
This anonymous narrator said Jambur has the worst narration because almost all the village is affected.
He added, “Some families have more than two people who were part of the tragic journey. We have informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other international institutions about the incident but we are yet to establish their whereabouts.”
Many people in Jambur Village refused to grant an interview to this reporter because they said they don’t want to talk about the incident.
“It is very touching, the whole village is mourning, we are still in the dark and we don’t know whether they are still alive or dead. Some families have already offered charity to their loved ones because they have lost hope,” a woman who refused to disclose her identity told Foroyaa.
Mr Lamin Fatty, a native of Ebo-Town, said he lost one of his nephews on this back-way journey.
“I was the one who paid for the trip for him, he complained to me that all his age mates have gone to Europe and they are now supporting their families. This boy complained on daily bases I was left without a choice than to pay for him. He joined a boat more than three months ago, up to date we don’t hear from him,” he said.
Mr Fatty in his tears said the back-way journey has caused a lot of families to lose their loved ones. He said it was never his intention to sponsor anybody to join the life-bet journey but he was left without a choice than to do so.
“Poverty and the neglect of our government are the root causes of this back-way journey. We all know how dangerous it is to navigate through the waters to Europe but our young people continue to take that risk because they think that is the only way out. The authorities should come up with mechanisms to remedy this situation. We lost all our youthful population in the name of searching for greener pastures,” he said.
Mr Malang Bojang, who lost his four sons who were in their 20s in the tragedy, is still in disbelief despite holding charity prayers for the deceased sons.
“I lost four of my children in this disaster. There was a time when I was not seeing Sanna and I asked and they told me he has left for Europe with Ba Musa, Foday and Buba,” he told Foroyaa, adding that he was never aware of his sons plan to embark on the perilous back-way journey to Europe in search of greener pasture.
Bojang pointed out that the mass exodus of Gambian youths to Europe is due to the lack of jobs and opportunities in the country. He urged the government to come up with a pragmatic solution, adding that “lip service” and empty promise will not address the back-way route issue.
“Poverty and lack of jobs is the reason driving the youths to take on this journey. Because you graduate and you will not get a job to help your family is painful. The Government should intervene with a pragmatic solution. But this sensitization will not end this back-way. The government should come up with measures to create more jobs for the young people,” he added.
IOM Return and Reintegration Program
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) conducts and supports data production and research designed to guide and inform migration policy and practice.
The IOM Data production and research are designed to enhance IOM’s programme delivery and contribute to a broader understanding of migration patterns and processes, as well as the links between migration research and migration policy and practice.
According to IOM standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration developed to ensure strengthened and streamlined approach to return and reintegration.
“Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on Post-Arrival and Reintegration Assistance for Migrants Referred from European Union Member States, Norway and Switzerland developed to ensure strengthened and coordinated approach to assisting forced returnees,” The IOM Standard Operating Procedures manual stated.
The IOM further stated that 6,276 stranded Gambian migrants received voluntary return assistance (January 2017 – June 2022) and 4,955 Gambian returnees received reintegration assistance (January 2017 – June 2022). The returnees were given medical and psychosocial support, career counselling, support to pursue education or vocational training, support to set up or strengthen a small business, employment support, support to acquire a national ID card, referrals to other programmes and services.
“IOM also established forty Community-based reintegration projects (January 2017 – June 2022), including animal husbandry, horticulture, bakery, commercial transport, fashion, horticulture, multi-purpose milling, threshing among others.
