By Binta JaitehHagie Suwaneh, the former parliamentary candidate for Basse Constituency has described irregular migration as a national tragedy for Gambians considering the number of lives lost.
He says still there is a mass exodus of young people looking for greener pastures perish while trying to cross through the Mediterranean Sea as they attempt to reach Europe.
Suwaneh said this during an exclusive interview granted to this paper as irregular migration still remains topical in the country. According to him, it has claimed a lot of young Gambian lives including men and women.
“This is a national tragedy and it worth a national dialogue. We know migration generally is a global challenge but Gambia has its own problem as far as migration is concern.’’
He said Gambian youths are faced with nightmares of unemployment and lack of opportunities and also the youth are faced with desperations and even to earn basic living is a challenge for them.
‘’This is leading to a catastrophic consequence, that is affecting the country’s future. In as much as we are in this situation together, I believe rightpolicies have to be made and the government of the day should step up rapidly and address this national concern,’’ he emphasized.
According to him, irregular migration’s root cause has to be addressed immediately. He pointed out that the youths are worried and sad because government keeps on making empty promises and without real policies that will reflect on the lives of the young.
He stressed that, government should stop making empty promises that will never solve the endemic trends, adding that if the youths have job opportunities, they will never leave the country in their numbers.
The country, he says, is losing its youth due to lack of basic needs.
‘’I call on them to join together and look at one direction to ensure that whatever we do, the country needs us. Irregular migration will never solve our problem. Suwaneh said.
He lamented that, the crime rate, drug abuse and robbery are rampant in the country for years and everyone knows the cause, so government should wake up and ignore politics and rescue the country before it is too late.
