The ECOWAS Parliament, has recommended the need for the ECOWAS Member states, to create decent and sustainable employment opportunities for the young people, in a bid to mitigate the menace of irregular migration and trafficking in persons, in the Gambia and ECOWAS Member states.
The Community Parliament, also called on the Gambia government and Parliament to accelerate the passage of immigration bill and ensure immediate implementation, and strengthen investment in communities particularly affected by irregular migration.
The Community Parliament made these and other recommendations, in its report on its week-long citizen engagement, on the dangers of irregular migration and trafficking in persons, in the Gambia, from Monday 6th July to Friday 10th July 2026.
The report of the week-long citizen engagement, contains several key findings, which the delegation from the ECOWAS Parliament took cognizance of.
Outlining the findings, while tabling the report, Hon. Billay G Tunkara, said that the first of the findings, was that the participant consistently identified “unemployment and underemployment, low income limited access to education and vocational skill training, and inadequate economic opportunities as major drivers of regular migration”.
He indicated that many young people expressed view that the opportunities currently available within the country “do not provide realistic pathway to secure a prosperous future, thereby reinforcing the perception that migration offers a few viable means to improve their livelihood”.
Another finding, he disclosed was that the participant highlighted a significant influence of family expectations, peer pressure, and social media on migration decisions.
He said “Images and stories portraying migrant successful abroad, together with the financial support sometimes provided by family members to facilitate regular journeys, continue to encourage young people to migrate despite the known danger”.
Thirdly, he said the testimonies of returnees and survivors “confirmed that regular migration and trafficking in person are not abstract concern, but leave experience marked by deception, exploitation, forced labour, abuse, detention, family separation, and severe psychosocial trauma”.
He said participants nevertheless recognize that survivors and returnees can become powerful advocates, to prevent that their testimonies constitute one of the most credible means of sensitizing young people in our community at large.
He added that the fourth issue detected by the delegation, was that participants emphasize that awareness creation alone is insufficient to curb irregular migration.
He said that sensitization must be accompanied by meaningful employment, entrepreneurial support, vocational skill development, agricultural modernization, access to financing, and sustained investment in youth employment.
The fifth issue observed by the committee, he said, was that participants underscore the need to strengthen reintegration support to returnees and survivors.
“Successful reintegration requires not only financial assistance, but also psychosocial care, skill development, livelihood support, job replacements, community acceptance, and protection from stigma,” said Hon. Tunkara.
He added that participants also expressed serious concerns about the profitability of migrants’ smugglers, compare with the relatively weak sanctions available under the existing legislative framework, and stressed the need for a stronger legislation, more effective enforcement and penalties, capable of deterring offenders and dismantling organized crime networks.
In view of the mentioned observations, the delegation from the ECOWAS Parliament, devised several recommendations, aimed at addressing the menace of irregular migration, and trafficking in persons.
To ECOWAS Member States:
He said that the ECOWAS Parliament recommended the need to “prioritize creation of decent and sustainable employment opportunities for young people through increased investment in technology and vocational education training centers”.
The Parliament also called on the member states to strengthen legislative, institutional, and cross-border cooperation mechanisms for combating migration smuggling, and trafficking in person, including enhancing intelligence sharing and coordinated enforcement action against organized criminal networks.
The regional parliament he added, also recommended the need for the member states to expand access to affordable entrepreneurship financing for young people, and strengthening investment in modern surveillance and border control equipment to enhance the capacity of security agencies to prevent and combat irregular migration and migrant smuggling.
To The Government and Parliament of the Gambia:
Hon. Tunkara said that the ECOWAS Parliament also recommended the need to accelerate the passage of immigration bill and ensure immediate implementation, and strengthen investment in communities particularly affected by irregular migration, including through decent job creation and cultural development for cultural training centers and criminal support.
To traditional and Religious Leaders, Families, Civil Society Organizations and the Media:
He added that the ECOWAS Parliament he said called on them to continue to “promote sustainable public awareness campaign to counter misinformation and misleading narratives surrounding irregular migration and encourage informed decision making among young people and their family”.
He said that the parliament also recommended them to encourage families and community members to refrain from financing irregular journeys and report suspected cases of migrant smuggling and trafficking in person to relevant authorities.
To the ECOWAS Parliament:
The delegation recommended that the regional parliament, also institutionalize parliamentary student engagement across ECOS member state, as a mechanism for strengthening parliamentary oversight, citizen participation and evidence-based policymaking on matters affecting regional integration and migrant governance, migration governance and human security.
It also called on the parliament to ensure that the concerns and recommendation emerging from engagement inform subsequent parliamentary deliberations, advocacy and oversight relating to irregular migration and trafficking in person.
“The engagement also reaffirms the value of direct interaction between parliamentarians and citizens. The combination of community-based dialogue and local language communication, survivors’ testimonies and support-based outreach strengthen a thrust to promote greater public awareness and encourage meaningful participation of young people and other community members,” he said.
The report is now expected to be tabled before the members of the ECOWAS Parliament, during its ordinary session, so that the whole house could debate on it, and if eventually adopted, the Community Parliament, would mandate its Speaker to transmit the report to all the relevant ECOWAS institutions for implementation.
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