The ongoing deaths of young Gambians along the so-called “backway” migration routes have prompted a collective reckoning, according to youth leader and development specialist Basiru Jaye, who contends that families, communities, international actors, and migrants themselves bear some of the blame.
Mr. Jaye responded to recent accounts of migrant boats being lost at sea by calling the deaths “funerals without bodies,” which left families in a state of uncertainty and sadness. He stated that “honest and uncomfortable conversations” and a readiness on the part of all parties involved to take accountability and take action would be necessary to stop such deaths.
“The recent migration tragedies are funerals without bodies, dreams buried at sea, and families left with questions that will never be answered. They need an honest and uncomfortable conversation. Responsibility lies with all of us—government, communities, families, smugglers, international actors, and even migrants themselves,” he said.
Additionally, he pointed to structural problems like unemployment and inadequate economic planning as the main causes of irregular migration, claiming that young people are frequently left without safe options to pursue better lives.
“The state bears a heavy share of this burden. Years of limited quality job creation, weak economic planning, and slow structural reforms have left too many young people standing at the edge of life with no safe road forward. When education leads to most of the unemployment, when effort is not rewarded, and when many public institutions feel distant or unresponsive, hope erodes. In that vacuum, dangerous migration begins to look less like recklessness and more like survival,” he said.
Mr. Jaye identified a number of long-standing structural issues that contribute to irregular migration, such as delayed reforms, poor economic planning, and unemployment. According to him, a lot of young people feel stuck because there aren’t many options at home, so risky travel seems like their only choice.
However, he warned against blaming the government alone, pointing out that communities and families sometimes contribute by viewing migration as a sign of success and, in certain situations, pushing young people to take risks.
“Yet government cannot be the only scapegoat. Families and communities also shape these decisions. We have normalized migration as success and quietly accepted death as collateral. In our desperation, some parents encourage their children to leave, believing that any future, even one soaked in danger, is better than none at all; this mindset, however understandable, feeds the cycle,” he said.
Additionally, he placed a strong emphasis on human accountability, contending that if systemic flaws put pressure on migrants, they still have choices to make and must be fully aware of the consequences. He called for tougher enforcement of child protection legislation and was especially vocal in denouncing the participation of children in irregular migration.
“Children, however, must never be part of this gamble. A child cannot weigh risk, cannot consent to danger, and cannot be used as proof of desperation. Any parent or guardian who knowingly takes a child on these deadly journeys violates that child’s most basic right, which is the right to life and protection,” he said.
Mr. Jaye advocated for more robust legal and community action to break up the networks of smugglers and traffickers who take advantage of young people who are at risk. He also attacked the global migration system for what he called hypocrisy, citing the coexistence of stringent immigration laws that leave young Africans with few legal options and the labor need in Europe.
“The international system also bears responsibility. Global inequality, restrictive migration regimes, and selective labor demand in Europe create a cruel contradiction: labor is needed, but people are locked out. Borders are fortified, yet legal pathways remain scarce. This policy hypocrisy does not stop movement but simply pushes it underground into the hands of criminals and onto unsafe waters,” he said.
Mr. Jaye contended that the deaths ultimately stem from a series of errors that reinforce each other. He cautioned that the cycle of loss would persist in the absence of concerted action, which should include the provision of jobs, the protection of children, lawful migration choices, and responsible governance.
“These deaths are not the result of one failure but of many failures reinforcing each other until every actor accepts responsibility and translates grief into action through quality jobs, protection systems, legal migration pathways, child safeguarding and accountable governance, we will continue to bury young people and tragically, children, whose only mistake was believing life could be better elsewhere,” he said.
