By Tabora Bojang
President Adama Barrow took a jab at parents who give money to their children to embark on the perilous irregular “back way” journey to Europe, saying they underwrite suicide.
Speaking at a political rally in Mamuda, Kombo North, over the weekend, Barrow said the so-called “back way” migration attempts have not only led to loss of lives and resources but brought immeasurable damages to the reputation of The Gambia. He revealed that his government’s refusal to receive deportees from Europe has led to sanctions against The Gambia with government officials denied travel visas to Europe.
“Those youths going to the back way are not doing it alone. Some of them connive with their parents or relatives. Some sell their homes or their gold and give the money to their children to go and kill themselves in the seas. Money is sweet but it is not worth losing one’s life. If Allah says your luck is in America, even if the American ambassador closes all his doors, you will still go to America,” Barrow told a keen listening crowd.
He continued: “In the past days, too many lives were lost in many boats that departed from The Gambia. One of those boats was carrying more than 197 people and it reportedly capsized with no survivors. On 31st December, another boat carrying up to 225 people capsized and only 90 people survived. The rest have lost their lives. Some of those people on board are pregnant, some left with their children, some are civil servants, some are police officers, some are nurses and they quit their jobs claiming that The Gambia is difficult that is why they are taking the back way to Europe. I am about 60 years old now and I have witnessed the difficulties that people encountered in this country in the 1970s and ’80s. In those days, people didn’t even have a place to buy rice. They keep money to themselves and when they hear rice is being sold somewhere they rush in numbers in a scramble to buy rice. And in the 1980s people would go and line up at the NTC and they would spend the whole day just to buy only one bag of rice. But today rice is available in every shop in this country. In those days people felt a lot of hunger, especially in August and that would force some people to go and get mangoes from bushes. That is no more happening in The Gambia, so you cannot jump today and say because of the lack of jobs, you are going to kill yourself in the sea. If you are a parent and you take money and give it your children to go to the back way, know that you are committing a suicide. You are killing yourself and your family. And you are not helping yourself, you are not helping your family and you are not helping the country,” President Barrow added.
He further argued that those leaving their jobs to embark the ‘back way’ journey should know that some people who have gone in the past are still sleeping in the streets in Europe.
“Some still remain in camps and could not even be employed. Do you think people just pick up money in Europe? I was in Europe but I ran and came back to The Gambia because I know I can work and make it in The Gambia. Go and work. People are working here in Mamuda, in Mankamang Kunda and they are making money. You won’t get anything if you don’t work. The ‘back way’ has brought a lot of destruction to The Gambia. It is destroying people’s resources, people’s lives, and destroying the image of the country. Some European countries wanted to deport a lot of people to The Gambia but we refused and that landed us in sanctions. If we apply for visas, it would take months before we get them. The whole world has sanctioned us simply because we refused to take our people back. All these have brought suffering to The Gambia but once these things happen people blame the government. But the government cannot do it alone,” he said.
According to President Barrow, some of the boats used in the journey, cannot be trusted even for a crossing from Banjul to Barra. He said the country is not in such dire straits for anyone to risk their lives in the deadly ocean.
