The growing number of deaths and detention of Gambian youths, both male and female, as they seek greener pastures abroad is becoming alarming. Success of many young people in life is becoming more and more a game of chance.
Many people turn their eyes to the youths and give lectures on why they should not attempt such ventures. They fail to see the invisible hands which continue to push the young people into gambling with their lives. The hardship confronting many families tend to move many parents to either give support or turn a blind eye to the efforts made by young people to join boats to engage in a perilous journey towards unknown destination. The only sure thing to them is the hope they keep alive that they will reach European shores and begin a new life.
As deportation of Gambians from Europe increases the losses incurred by families who put together thousands of dalasi to send their children abroad are unsustainable. A national conversation on this subject is needed, one that will bring together the national government, the foreign governments concerned, the NGO, the parents teachers associations, the women and youth organisations; in order to come up with a realistic agenda on how to ensure that scholarships and jobs abroad are made available as the country seeks to address its unemployment and technological lag. Urgent measures are needed if more lives are to be saved and detention under conditions of slavery averted.
