On Tuesday, 7th July 2026, four Gambian survivors of irregular migration shared their harrowing experiences with members of the ECOWAS Parliament during a community interface in Bakau. The event was part of the Community Parliament’s ongoing citizen engagement on irregular migration and trafficking in persons in The Gambia.
The survivors — Amie Jobe, Tombong Kuyateh, Alimatou Sarjo, and Fatou Cham — each recounted their ordeals, highlighting the dangers of irregular migration and urging young people to resist the lure of traffickers.
Amie Jobe narrated how she was deceived by an Immigration Officer who promised her a communication job abroad and claimed to have secured all the necessary travel documents. She explained that traffickers often demand passports and money, promising to take victims to destinations such as Dubai, Lebanon, Morocco, Egypt, and more recently, Turkey.
At the time of her departure, she said trafficking was not widely known. She urged the gathering: “Even if such people promise you jobs in Dubai or Turkey, tell them you are not going, because what they tell you and what you find in reality are not the same.”
She described herself as fortunate, having spent only a year abroad compared to others who spent several years or never returned, leaving families unaware of their whereabouts. Family pressure and poverty were her main push factors, but she trusted the officer because she saw him as a brother.
Tombong Kuyateh, a member of Youth Against Irregular Migration (YAIM), shared that he embarked on the perilous journey in 2013 due to unemployment, poverty, and peer influence. He said: “I ventured into the journey with the hope of salvaging my parents from difficulties. Opportunities and employment for youth are scarce, and when you carry family responsibilities on your shoulders, things become unbearable.”
He described facing numerous checkpoints where migrants were extorted, beaten, or electrocuted if they failed to pay. He called the desert “a graveyard for youths,” noting that 15 of his 30 friends died from hunger, scorching heat, and thirst.
Kuyateh urged the government to establish sustainable skill centers and job opportunities to discourage irregular migration, alongside massive public sensitization campaigns like the one conducted by ECOWAS Parliament.
Alimatou Sarjo, representing the Safe Home for Migrants’ Association, emphasized that the backway is a difficult journey, worsened by family pressures. She said parents often compare their children to peers who succeed abroad, creating division among siblings.
She recounted starting her journey in Mauritania, where her first night was spent in a mosquito-infested house without a door. She lamented: “If I knew what I know today, I would not have spent all my earnings on migration. The anguish and suffocation we endured were unbearable. Yet, upon return, society sees you as aimless and a failure.”
She urged the government to empower youth with skills and provide job opportunities to reduce the temptation of migration.
Fatou Cham narrated that her journey began in
Banjul and took her to Burkina Faso, where she spent three nights in prison after refusing to hand over her pocket money. She endured beatings that, she said, “damaged my humanity.”
Her push factor was to help her struggling parents, but after informing them of her imprisonment, they sent money to secure her release and advised her to return home.
