The Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice expresses its profound grief and condolences to the families of the youths who lost their lives in the recent Backway tragedy off the coast of Jinack. We also wish those who were rescued speedy and full recovery.
The persistent occurrence of these dangerous and deadly journeys reflects a deep and long-standing malaise afflicting Gambian society. While EFSCRJ considers the Backway to be unsafe, dangerous, and unacceptable and therefore urges young people to refrain from undertaking it, we cannot ignore the structural conditions that have sustained this phenomenon for decades.
Migration is a human right. However, when migration by any means becomes a widespread preoccupation driven by desperation and the search for greener pastures, it raises serious socioeconomic and governance questions that require honest, direct, and sustained national conversations. The Backway did not emerge in isolation, rather it arose as a response to deep deprivation, limited opportunities, and persistent hardship within the country.
It is important to recognise that both the unskilled, under-educated, poorly paid, and underprivileged, as well as highly educated, skilled, and relatively privileged Gambians, seek to leave the country albeit through different routes. What unites them is not mindset or attitude, but the dire socioeconomic conditions and limited prospects at home. Therefore, the core issue is not whether migration occurs through the “front way” or the “back way,” but the conditions that justify and fuel these journeys.
At the same time, EFSCRJ emphasises that while it raises serious concerns about both regular and irregular migration particularly the loss of life and the accelerating brain drain it is also an established and undeniable fact that migrants play a critical role in sustaining the Gambian economy. Remittances sent by Gambians in the diaspora account for more than 30% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These remittances support households, finance education, and healthcare, sustain small businesses, and cushion families against economic shocks. This reality exposes a fundamental structural contradiction: while the state benefits immensely from migration-generated income, it has failed to create comparable opportunities at home that would allow citizens to live with dignity without risking their lives or being forced to leave the country.
The EF Small Centre also acknowledges that the vast majority of Gambian youth remain in the country, working diligently as carpenters, fisherfolk, taxi drivers, market vendors, plumbers, engineers, farmers, artisans, and professionals across multiple sectors. Yet, even among those who are working, frustration persists due to low incomes, rising living costs, limited social mobility, and weak public services. Alarmingly, we have observed that workers from the formal sector including civil servants, security officers, and private-sector employees are also abandoning their jobs to embark on the Backway, underscoring the depth of the national crisis.
EFSCRJ notes that as long as viable socioeconomic conditions and effective governance remain absent, both regular and irregular migration will continue leading to loss of life, depletion of human capital, and severe national loss. In all scenarios, The Gambia loses immensely.
For this reason, EF Small Centre for Rights and Justice calls on the Government, its development partners, civil society organisations, and the private sector to jointly design and implement robust, sustainable, innovative, and effective measures that expand employment opportunities, improve incomes, ensure access to quality goods and services, and promote shared prosperity.
Sixty years after independence, national development remains largely ad hoc, disjointed, and weak. In many instances, relevant policies either do not exist or are poorly implemented, resulting in minimal impact. Public institutions continue to underperform, delivering inefficient and low-quality services without accountability. Budgetary allocations to the youth sector remain disproportionately low, leaving key institutions such as the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSS), National Youth Council (NYC), President’s International Award (PIA), National Enterprise Development Initiative (NEDI), and others chronically underfunded, centralised around the Greater Banjul Area, and largely absent from rural and provincial communities.
Across sectors critical to youth development, education, skills training, sports, tourism, performing arts, entrepreneurship, and technology, there is a glaring absence of national infrastructure to sustain continuous programming and long-term interventions. This reality is reflected in the Government’s 2025 Labour Survey, which indicates that 41% of Gambian youth are not in education, employment, or training (NEET), highlighting the severe inadequacy of opportunities and resources available to young people.
EFSCRJ is firmly of the view that the lasting solution to the Backway lies in strong, coordinated, and sustained Government intervention that deliberately links education and skills training to the real economy. This requires genuine political will to formulate the right policies and ensure their efficient, accountable, and committed implementation. We further recommend the establishment of a national commercial or development finance institution capable of providing accessible, low-interest capital to qualified youth entrepreneurs. In addition, we call for increased funding, expansion, decentralisation, and operational strengthening of youth development institutions, including the NYSS, PIA, and related bodies.
The Gambia possesses immense potential and opportunities to create an enabling environment for youth development and shared prosperity. The challenge is not that young people are lazy or believe success is only possible abroad. Rather, the challenge lies in the failure of successive governments to accurately diagnose the problem and respond with coherent, comprehensive, and effective solutions. For far too long, policy responses have been piecemeal and ineffective. The time has come for a decisive change of course.
In the interim, EF Small Centre calls on the Government to ensure effective surveillance and policing of Gambian waters to prevent, detect and apprehend illegal migrant boats and their operators. It is inexcusable that, despite the presence of the police and the navy, such boats continue to evade detection. EFSCRJ further calls for thorough investigations and the prosecution of all perpetrators involved in organising and facilitating these deadly journeys.
EFSCRJ remains committed to advocating for policies, institutions, and governance systems that place human dignity, opportunity, accountability, and justice at the center of national development.
2026 – The Year of Empowerment
