The executive Director of the National Youth Council, Mr Alhagie Jarjue said the thousands of jobs created and small businesses established have not been able to reverse the trends of Gambian youths journeying through the backway to Europe, with so many dying in deserts and at high season each year.

“Despite all [the] investments and successes registered, one will want to wonder why we continue to have large numbers of young people living the shores of the Gambia,” Jarjue lamented at the national dialgue on migration event convened by Gambia government last week.

There have been millions of Euros invested in youth programmes since 2017, notably by the European Union in a project dubbed Tekki fii (Wolof for Make it here), thrpugh the EU Trust Fund implemented by the International Trade Center, ENABEL, IMVF, GIZ and others.

“Through these projects, more than 7000 young people have completed professional trainings in TVET. More than 4000 MSME’s created or scaled up with programme support,  over 9,000 direct jobs created and another 1,000 supported with access to finance,” he told the gathering, arguing that half a million people were reached directly with migration related messaging.

This irregular journey which is commonly known as “Back Way”, have claimed lots of lives of Gambian youths. According to the youth cohncil boss, it is considered to be one of the riskiest journeys of the 21^st Century. “Many of our youth have succumbed to the cold hands of death in the desert, in the high seas, in the hands of the criminals, smugglers/ traffickers,” he argued.

At the level of the National Youth Council, several projects have been implemented; so many initiatives have been undertaken to curb irregular migration.

He said that the Council together with the IOM has implemented unique programmes of sensitisation on migration and the opportunities available in the country. Through the Migration Information Centres, they were able to reach out to tens of thousands of youth, both potential migrants, migrant returnees, and the community.

“Despite all these investments and successes registered, one will want to wonder why we continue to have large numbers of young people living the shores of the Gambia. No one sector has the numbers… and that is why this dialogue is conceived, representing a whole of government and whole of civil society approach to once and for all, curbing youth irregular migration,” Jarjue said.