When Gambian president, Adama Barrow addressed a rally last week, he touched on the tragic deaths of dozens of Gambians. They perished at sea in their ill-fated attempt to reach Europe by boat in search of economic opportunities.

As expected of him, he showed no empathy for the desperation many felt leading to such fatal decisions. He showed no sympathy for the grieving families. Rather, he blamed families for sponsoring what he referred to as “suicide.” He blamed the victims for not taking advantage of opportunities available to them in The Gambia. A clear misrepresentation of the facts on the ground for the average Gambian. It  shows how out of touch he is with the realities that people contend with on a daily basis.

As if being unsympathetic was not callous enough, he used Seedy Ceesay, Administrative Secretary of his ruling National People’s Party (NPP) as a prop and presented him as an example of how good life is in The Gambia. In a tasteless attempt at being funny within the Gambian framework of joking relations, he stated that Seedy Ceesay told him that life is so good that he eats six meals a day. In the president’s detachment from reality, someone who benefits from his role in the president’s party and also probably benefits from the president’s own largesse, was the perfect representation of how good things are for Gambians.

According the government’s own data (gbosdata, 2026), unemployment in the Gambia is around 8% which is nearly twice the rate in more stable economies. The key driver pushing young men and women to embark on such risky ventures is purely economic.

Even for those lucky to be employed in The Gambia, the wages earned are not enough to cover the high costs of living in the country if they even get paid on time. Further exacerbating the unemployment problem is the government’s failed policies across every sector of the economy.

Unchecked issuance of fishing licenses to commercial vessels from China that compete with artisanal fishermen while depleting fish reserves shot up prices beyond the reach of many who rely on that sector.

Most Gambians are rural, and agriculture is their source of livelihood making that sector the biggest employer of Gambians and also the source of much needed foreign currency for the import dependent economy. For the past three farming seasons, farmers’ incomes have been stagnant because the government designated themselves as the sole buyers of their ground nuts but kept the buying price frozen for three years amidst rising costs of the price of fertilizer needed for their nutrient depleted farmlands. Farming is still labor intensive with hardly any mechanization, which means lower yields and poor quality crops that have to compete on the world market against better quality produce from countries with more investments in agriculture and better subsidies for farmers.

We all remember the chaotic ‘operation clear the roads’ policy that saw the reckless and wanton destruction of people’s properties through the demolition of businesses in the name of aesthetic street development with no compensation for losses or even viable alternatives for people whose stalls were demolished.

The combined effect of all these policies, coupled with an unattractive business environment, rampant corruption, and unprecedented rates of crime contribute to the desperation that many feel making the prospects of a better life elsewhere appealing regardless of the potential dangers that lay on the way towards that prospect.

This simple fact would be clear to any government, provided such a government cares about the welfare of its citizens. But with a government more concerned about transactional politics of development in return for votes, blaming the victims and their desperate families is a convenient way to shift blame, and Adama Barrow’s callous disregard for these facts as pronounced in his utterances are calculated to have just that effect.

Try an internet search for a Gambia government database on migrant deaths of citizens from The Gambia and you will find none. One can argue that keeping an accurate track of such numbers is impossible, but accuracy is not the goal. Having reasonable estimates is the expectation. Estimates that can help guide government policy in tackling this nightmare.

Even as bombs fall, with a government under siege and considered illegitimate, the authorities in Gaza manage to track and record casualties of Israeli bombs within the Palestinian territory. That is the level of commitment and concern one should expect from a responsible government.

If the Gambia government is really determined to, it will produce ways to keep track of its citizens who perish along the treacherous routes to Europe. Creating an avenue for families to report concerns about their missing relatives is one such step.

But the attitude and utterances of the president and his minister of information is enough indication for all to gauge how unbothered they are about the continuous loss of life.

His proposed solution to this scourge, is “sensitization” to discourage families from allowing their relatives to embark on the journey.

Indeed, sensitization is needed. Beyond the economic desperation, there is also the social pressure on young people in that their peers who find opportunities in Europe or anywhere in the west become accomplished members of their communities earning respect and admiration from members of their community. But sensitization by default is passing the responsibility for someone else to execute the government’s most sacred responsibility, the protection of life.

As dangerous as this journey is, and regardless of any sensitization efforts, we know people will still seek the route. In as much as we would like to call for young people to find safer paths to opportunity, it is understandable that their desire to seek opportunities for themselves and to lift their families out of poverty, outweighs any safety concerns. It is even more tragic when young women carry their infants and toddlers with them. This tragic enterprise cannot continue. All that is required is the political will enhanced by sound economic policies centered on human capital development. Critical ingredients that are lacking in this government’s agenda.

Designating the entire industry as a human trafficking ring and coming down hard on the culprits who load innocent lives into pirogues to take to the high seas will be a good measure.

These are people who have no navigational skills or instruments to ensure safe passage. They use traditionally built pirogues that have no chance against the waves in the open sea yet collect payment from desperate citizens and take them on a trip hoping they make it across the sea. Stopping the owners and operators of these boats using all available resources from intelligence gathering to interceptions on the high seas should be a priority.

Since this government has no ideas or any intention of creating opportunities, this is one intervention that is guaranteed to save lives as those resources are already on hand. All that is needed is to have them mobilized.

References

gbosdata. (2026, January 7). Retrieved from The Gambia Bureau of Statistics: https://www.gbosdata.org/data/11-labour-markets/1920-unemployment-rate-lu1-total