European-funded information campaigns contrasting irregular migration from The Gambia

Author: Alagie Jinkang, University of Bologna

According to the IOM, between 2014 and 2018, over 35,000 Gambians arrived in Europe along irregular routes through Niger and Libya, a phenomenon popular in The Gambia as the “back way”. This policy brief takes The Gambia as a focus for several reasons. Chiefly, surrounded on the three sides by Senegal, The Gambia lies at the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean within porous borders making it a strategic location for migrant smugglers and human traffickers.