In his now famous Sunugaal slide show with its heart breaking lyrics, Senegalese poet cum musician Awadi sang the following:
He was decrying the decay that has befallen his countrymen, but you can swap the name Senegal with any other African country, and the situation he is bemoaning will be just as true. The Gambia has lost many a son to the waves of the Mediterranean sea. They died braving the demons of the sea to reach what they believe is the promised land. Those fortunate enough to make it to the shores of the Spanish Canary Islands are now been sent back en mass as reported by the point in this story:
The economic toll of this mass deportation will reverberate around the whole nation. There are families in the Gambia that sell all their livestock to scrunge together the 25000 dalasis ( about $890) to have someone going on this trip. Getting sent home means no returns on their investments and the consequences will not be pretty economically. The toll apart from the millions of dalasis that went down the drain will take years to reverse. The psychological impact of cheating death just to be dump back to square one could have traumatic effects on many a youngster in a country where mental health advice is virtually non-existent.
All your beautiful words
All your beautiful promises
We always wait for them
You had promised me that I would have of the job
You had promised me that I would never be hungry
You had promised me of true activities and a future
Really up to here I still see nothing
That's why I decided to flee, that's why I break myself in dugout
I swear it ! I can't stay here one more second.
It is better to die that to live in such conditions, in this hell
Come what may
I again prefer to die
See the slideshow and hear the accompanying lyrics here
He was decrying the decay that has befallen his countrymen, but you can swap the name Senegal with any other African country, and the situation he is bemoaning will be just as true. The Gambia has lost many a son to the waves of the Mediterranean sea. They died braving the demons of the sea to reach what they believe is the promised land. Those fortunate enough to make it to the shores of the Spanish Canary Islands are now been sent back en mass as reported by the point in this story:
As part of the drive to combat illegal immigration, some 111 Gambians have over the weekend been deported to The Gambia as they tried to enter Spain. The Point has learnt that the would-be immigrants left The Gambia some three weeks ago aboard a vessel but ran out of luck on entering the Canary Islands, their vessel having been intercepted and all the men on board put in a plane back to The Gambia. The latest arrivals bring to 255 Gambians deported within a period one month..point
The economic toll of this mass deportation will reverberate around the whole nation. There are families in the Gambia that sell all their livestock to scrunge together the 25000 dalasis ( about $890) to have someone going on this trip. Getting sent home means no returns on their investments and the consequences will not be pretty economically. The toll apart from the millions of dalasis that went down the drain will take years to reverse. The psychological impact of cheating death just to be dump back to square one could have traumatic effects on many a youngster in a country where mental health advice is virtually non-existent.
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sorry we didn't get to meet during your trip...i'm sure you were pretty busy.
This is a sad phenomena and a complicated one at that. I don't think there's any quick fix solution to it. Government needs to create the enabling environment for gainful employment. In the same vein, the youths should also note that it is not easy to make it abroad, some of the money spent in securing their dangerous journeys could have been invested into small business. Life is hard everywhere. We can't all stay at home but also we can't all leave the country. There are those with genuine reasons and problems for making such a journey whilst there are also the greedy ones who would want to make "millions" once they set foot in europe. Some of these youths only sit at home and complain and make enemies of everyone and drink green chinese tea/"ataya". There are those who had established businesses but due to share greed decided to venture out into the unknown.
It's our collective responsiblity i.e both government and citizens to see to it that this menace is curbed. I sympathise with the genuine travellers/migrants and their families and pray that God take them out of poverty and despair