By Kemo Kanyi
A UK-based Gambian analyst, Zindi Anthony Levi, has said irregular migration in The Gambia should be understood not only as a humanitarian crisis but as part of a broader political and economic survival strategy.
In an interview with The Voice on Monday, Levi said many Gambians risk irregular migration routes not merely to escape hardship but to support their families, while criminal networks profit from turning human movement into a lucrative business.
Levi, who holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, said decades of low income growth, weak industrialization, and fragile agricultural livelihoods have left young people with few viable opportunities at home.
He noted that youth unemployment remains high, while many rural communities depend on subsistence farming increasingly affected by climate shocks.
“In such a context, migration is not seen as a reckless gamble. It has become a rational survival strategy,” he said.
According to Levi, migration offers many Gambians the only realistic path to improving their economic prospects and supporting extended families.
He cited remittances sent by Gambians abroad in 2024, which he said accounted for nearly one-third of the country’s gross domestic product, placing The Gambia among the countries with the highest remittance-to-GDP ratios globally.
“These funds pay for food, healthcare, school fees, housing, and small business activities,” he said, describing migration as an unofficial social safety net in a country with limited formal economic opportunities.
“When households depend on money from relatives abroad, migration becomes more than an individual decision; it becomes a family strategy,” Levi added.
He further warned that rising demand for migration has fuelled an expanding smuggling economy, with transnational networks offering forged documents, dangerous sea crossings, and so-called safe passage through some of the world’s most perilous routes.
Levi stressed that addressing irregular migration requires tackling the underlying economic and structural conditions driving young Gambians to leave, rather than focusing solely on border control measures.
