{"id":3636,"date":"2018-10-24T13:42:52","date_gmt":"2018-10-24T12:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/combonimission.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=3636"},"modified":"2018-10-24T13:42:52","modified_gmt":"2018-10-24T12:42:52","slug":"africa-migration-back-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/africa-migration-back-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa: Migration – Back Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Returning from Libyan detention, young Gambians try to change the migration exodus mindset.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mustapha Sallah knows all about taking the \u201cback way\u201d, the Gambian expression for migrating to Europe, a journey that for many citizens comes to a brutal halt in a Libyan jail.
\nHaving experienced detention first-hand, 26-year-old Sallah he set up, Youths Against Irregular Migration, (YAIM) using the airwaves in his home country, as well as social media and road shows, to try to deter others from following in his footsteps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe phone-in discussion was on the consequences of migration \u2013 good or bad\u201d,<\/em> Sallah said after his recent weekly half-hour segment on Capital FM radio. \u201cOne guy called in and said, \u2018Italy is already full. There are many things you can do here [in The Gambia].\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

According to the World Bank, Gambians make up Europe\u2019s second largest diaspora as a share of home-country population (in their case 1.9 million). \u201cThe Gambia has never had a group of returnees trying to discourage youths from travelling irregularly\u201d<\/em> Sallah said. \u201cWe went there [Libya] and saw and experienced everything, so when we talk [here] we use our own stories on their level. When people see us, they say \u2018this is what we needed, you are really supporting society\u2019\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Gambia is emerging as a test case for international efforts to reverse irregular migration across the Mediterranean. Sallah was among 2,674 Gambians flown home from Libya by the UN\u2019s International Organization for Migration between January 2017 and June 2018.<\/p>\n

These operations only became feasible with the fall of president Yahya Jammeh\u2019s dictatorial regime to a democratic coalition government in January 2017.<\/p>\n

Concerns remain over the capacity to assist large numbers of returnees, but the strategy appears to be working: recent IOM data shows that The Gambia has dropped out of the top 10 league of migrant nationalities arriving in Italy for the first time since the Mediterranean crisis began in 2014-2015.<\/p>\n

Anecdotally, there is consensus that fewer people appear to be leaving, but there is no hard data to support this assumption.<\/p>\n

As well as highlighting the perils of migration, YAIM seeks to draw attention to the potential benefits of staying in The Gambia.<\/p>\n

YAIM member Saihou Tunkara, a 22-year-old who returned from Libya with Sallah, told Capital FM listeners about enrolling in a hairdressing course sponsored by the anti-trafficking campaign \u201cI\u2019m Not for Sale\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had had that support before, I would not have gone the \u2018back way\u2019,\u201d he said after the radio show. \u201cGambia is a place where people don\u2019t support you at the grassroots level. If you are on the journey [to Europe] then they support you, they start sending money, but that is not the right solution\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

The belief that you can only make it in Europe is so entrenched among most Gambians that many families would still rather bet their last dalasi on the hope their youngsters will succeed on the dangerous journey than support them in developing livelihoods at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cChanging the minds of the sponsors [relatives and friends] of this irregular migration is the most difficult thing. They lack confidence in the youths and this country\u201d,<\/em> Sallah said. Sitting in his crowded family compound with friend and co-founder Jacob Ndow, they explain the organisation\u2019s genesis and why they think their message really hits home.<\/p>\n

\u201cYouths Against Irregular Migration was created by migrants in the [Libyan] prison. We were there for each other against the hardship. Everybody was saying I wouldn\u2019t even want my enemy to take this journey\u201d,<\/em> said Sallah, who spent four months in detention.
\n
\n\u201cWe were treated like slaves; we didn\u2019t take a bath for months, so we tried to escape and they beat us seriously\u201d,<\/em> added Ndow. \u201cThat\u2019s when I met Mustapha. He was also punished and he couldn\u2019t stand. That\u2019s when we decided that we must make people aware that the \u2018back way\u2019 is a bad road\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

YAIM has just completed the second of its \u201cyouth caravans\u201d<\/em>, with funding from the German Embassy in Banjul. They travelled to communities in two regions particularly affected by irregular migration, sharing their experiences in market squares and meeting places.<\/p>\n

A female member of YAIM, who asked to remain anonymous, explained how on the tours she recounts her experiences of being kidnapped and sold. \u201cThe \u2018back way\u2019 is a dangerous journey, especially for women. We face too much maltreatment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Such tales are softened by performances. Ndow is one of the star acts, singing the song he made up in prison. Upon his return he recorded his single, \u201cThe back way isn\u2019t an easy road\u201d, which gets regular airplay.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven the kids and elders are singing that song, and it will change their concept of travelling because they will know it\u2019s not an easy road\u201d,<\/em> he said.
\nComing home is not an easy option either, and another returnee group is trying to establish its own reintegration project to overcome the stigma of being a so-called \u201cfailed migrant\u201d and to lead by example.<\/p>\n

\u201cLibya was full of ugly experiences: slave labour, torture. It became a living hell. But how you are looked upon as a returnee is really stressful\u201d,<\/em> said Pa Modou Jatta, a member of Returnees From The Backway (RFTB), which was also founded in a Libyan detention centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou feel that you have betrayed yourself and your family because you had aims of becoming someone great\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

RFTB has been given farmland in the Kerewan Local Government Area by village elders inspired by their cause. The grand plan is to establish a farming cooperative with other returnees and become role models for local youths, then spread the scheme across other regions.<\/p>\n

None of RFTB\u2019s members are farmers, so they have persuaded IOM to fund their agricultural training. \u201cYou have to seize opportunities to do well in life\u201d,<\/em> said the group\u2019s chairperson Alhagie Camara.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Returning from Libyan detention, young Gambians try to change the migration exodus mindset. Mustapha Sallah knows all about taking the \u201cback way\u201d, the Gambian expression for migrating to Europe, a journey that for many citizens comes to a brutal halt in a Libyan jail. Having experienced detention first-hand, 26-year-old Sallah he set up, Youths Against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3636\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}