STUDENT’S VOICE With Saikou Suwareh Jabai You are welcome to yet another edition of your weekly Student’s Voice. We feature stories, articles, poems, etc, from students and teachers alike. We encourage other students to contribute and get their writing skills developed. The column is open to all and sundry in the education milieu in of The Gambia. Sit back, relax and enjoy these fascinating pieces. QUOTATION OF THE WEEK “There are no problems we cannot solve together, and very few we can solve by ourselves. – Lyndon B. Johnson THE ‘BACK WAY’ TO EUROPE – From The Horse’s Mouth Europe is not an absolute heaven and not all that glitters, there are gold. People would say it is a great place but the reality does not measure up to what we have heard and saw. “We knew the journey was risky but still we embarked on it. But there are things in our country which make us take this journey. We don’t care what will happen. I am happy today because I am one of the lucky ones who survived. We spent seven days in the Mediterranean Sea. Many people have died, some people fainted, we ran out of water and we ran out of food. Also we ran out of petrol. We ran out of everything, we were hopeless in the sea, the wind was just taking us from one point to the other,” this is a horrific quotation of unfortunate immigrant whom I had an encounter with during my little research on this theme. Even though he requested anonymity, he allowed me to indicate that he was deported back to The Gambia and he is currently doing a self-initiated business. His story is dreadful. Devastated by unemployment in his motherland, he decided to start the risky journey to the ‘promised land’, aware of the dangers which would await him along the way, and separating him from his wife and two children without knowing if he would ever return. A man’s difficult situation they say, confines him in a struggling mood to find a better breeze of live. For the past years, the perilous journey made headlines in Gambian newspapers as boats carrying immigrants capsize every now and then, killing hundreds of Gambians and other nationals. Deaths are often due to dehydration, lack of food, inexperienced boat captains and adverse weather conditions and boat overloading. Even passengers that survive the crossing are still at risk. Hoping to avoid detection, smugglers often throw their passengers overboard as they reach shore. Unable to swim, many passengers drown in sight of land. Italy has long been a gateway into Europe. Merely a transit point, many people use it to pass through to Northern European countries. In 2014, The Mediterranean crossing from African to Europe was described as ‘the most lethal route in the world’ by the UN agency for refugees. For many African asylum-seekers and refugees, crossing the Mediterranean Sea can be viewed as the biggest challenge they must undertake to reach the ‘promised land’. Though the journey is cut short for some, a new beginning emerges for others. Not just being risky, the journey is also expensive. Migrants pay their smugglers hundred thousands of dalasis for the journey. Sadly enough, the money is acquired by selling family life sustaining acquisitions such as land, houses, goats, cows and even bank overdrafts sometimes. The decision to migrate may be fuelled by a multitude of motivations. Although The Gambia is making momentous economic gains, it is broadly struggling to translate these gains into sustainable livelihoods for all of its youth. Disturbed by social and economic disparities, many youth seek out new opportunities across the Mediterranean. To understand all of this, we must begin by finding out what pushes an individual to leave his home and family, to spend their savings, risk their lives in the desert and at sea, to face the unforeseen, to suffer isolation, exploitation, to undergo humiliation, to move across hostile countries, in a journey that has no sure duration for a dream that often turns to tragedy. Another immigrant I spoke to is 25- year old boy. He recalled a ‘terrific’ moment they encountered while arriving in Libya. “When we landed in Libya things only got worse. I made it across the border with fourteen boys and two girls, all of us jaded from days without good food and the terrifying trip we had just experienced. We were told to get to this small desert town but on the way five armed men captured us. We thought they were border guards. It wasn’t until the torture began that we realized they were outlaws. He added that they demanded for ‘ransom’ if they are to continue with their journey, leading them to phone back home for the money the armed men demanded for their release. “I paid them almost D75, 000 for my release but we had to go through some harsh moments which am still recovering from.” Many smugglers make unrealistic promises to migrants about the kind of lives that they may be able to have abroad. For migrants who do decide to hire the services of a smuggler, the road to Italy is a perilous one, and migrants are especially vulnerable to mistreatment and abuse throughout many points along their journey. If caught and arrested, they may be detained for months, and unless they can afford a ticket home, they have little hope of release. The cost of a trip to Italy averages several hundreds of thousands of dalasis, depending on the distance and difficulty of the route, the level of institutional control over the route and on the transit and destination countries’ response to the migrants’ arrival. It may take years to complete, as many remain in transit hubs along their route to work to afford the next leg of their trip. As a result, many migrants are ‘stuck’ in towns along the way to the coast. In addition to exorbitant prices, migrants endure perilous conditions. Furthermore, even if they do reach the Italian shores, migrants have to endure long, strenuous processing procedures and face deportation if they are not found to be genuine refugees. The search for better life has made these youths to lose their sense of reasoning, the only thing on their mind is that they will succeed and change their stories to success. Sadly, parents who have a role to play in guiding and giving direction to their children are not leaving up to these expectations rather they contribute to the predicaments of this generation. They want their children to be like that of other families at all cost. It is often argued that societal or peer group pressure help to motivate an individual but this is not always the case. The truth is that, it makes them to work beyond their limit and when the pressure is not managed properly, the result is frustration. Unfortunately, many souls have been lost and family lineages have been wiped out as a result of death of their heir through this journey. The thousands of Gambian youths are not exception to this law of nature, as the economic situation in their country has forced most of them to embark on a perilous journey to Europe in search of greener pastures. Economically, massive migration from our country to Europe indicates loss of potentials since communities and developmental sectors in the country fail to benefit from what young people can contribute. Our youths are continuously risking their lives and small fortunes to find economic relief in Europe so the country’s authorities should give them a reason (s) to stay if they want to cut down the rate of this unfortunate migration. Finally, youth migration in The Gambia is as old as Kunta Kinteh and no sector in the country should claim innocence of this act. And to the potentials immigrants thinking of embarking on the perilous journey, I hope this article will convince you to stay despite all odds as the dignity of human life should not be compromise for any struggle on earth. By Saikou Suwareh Jabai, Reporter and Columnist, Foroyaa Newspaper. MESSAGE TO SOME GAMBIAN GIRLS I as a concerned Gambian deemed it necessary to write my opinion on the recent and an ongoing situation erupting across our religious country today. My primary aim is to raise awareness and to promote our religion and culture. Well, in the Gambia today, it has become a sort of a norm to see girls wear immoral dress and nobody seems to care. The most devastating and worrying part is the surge in the immoral and an unethical western dress embraced by our beautiful and most cherished Gambian sisters. It is worth noting down the significance of such discussions since it is a threat to our culture as Gambians. We are witnessing an increase in the number of Gambian girls being fooled by images, pictures or videos of top brass music stars. Most of these girls are somehow ignorant of the fact that these celebrities have a particular and an exclusive set of dress they wore for a particular film type or musical performance but not necessarily their lifestyle not to mention their main outfits, and since most of these girls are blinded by what they saw on the internet or television shows, they in turn copy or imitate them. Most are with the concept that wearing such dress or outfits depicts a sign of class and civilization not knowing it utter shame and despicable nature. What shocked me most is, these girls wear such immoral and an unethical dress in broad daylight without giving a second thought of its ramifications and those respected and pious Muslim elders around them. Most of the people are forced to see things that they wouldn’t want to set their eyes on but they are helpless. I am not a critic, neither am I an extremist but I called my self a concerned Gambian youth who wants a best and a respectable life for his sisters and would also want to see a restoration of the pride and dignity Gambian women are known to exhibit. Most will called me a conservative but I give little importance to such rhetoric. Furthermore, most of these girls are fooled by beauty and beauty is not permanent but it is temporary. In today’s world many will say these three words to you “I Love You” but only few mean it. Many will love you for the tight-fitting clothes that revealed your body parts, which are only meant for your husband. Remember they don’t love you for who you are but what you have, which I believe is lust. Finally every woman dream of marrying a successful, caring, loving and a handsome man who will respect her but sister remember that respect is reciprocal, respect yourself and Allah will bless you with a husband who will respect you. An intelligent girl is she who guards her chastity and dignity because they are priceless. Bubacarr Trawally, University of The Gambia.]]>
