By Bai Gassama and Modou Musa Cham
The Network of Reintegration and Irregular Migration Data (NRIMD) Sunday held an anti-irregular migration campaign in the Lower Niumi District.
The Kanuma, Fass Njaga Choi, Berending and Essau villages in the district benefited from the enlightenment attended by their alkalolou, Village Development Committees (VDC), youth and elders, among others.
The anti-irregular migration campaign funded by IOM entails dissemination of key migration and reintegration messages to the villagers.
During the campaign in Kanuma, NRIMD vice chair, Yaya Manneh indicated the achievements of the association that includes the creation of employment opportunities for over 30 youth within 5 months, mostly returnees.
A returnee from Berending, Momodou Trawally narrated to the audience his ordeals and the impact of the campaign on his life, following his return from the “Backway” journey.
The District Youth Council Chairman, Baboucarr Mboob highlighted his office policies and programmes, as well as the available opportunities in the country that the youth could explore, instead of taking to the route.
At Fass Njaga Choi, a female returnee, Sagar Cham, also a survivor of the 2019 boat accident in Mauritania through which over 50 youth died, shared her ordeals with the audience to serve as deterrent to taking to the route.
A key objective of the NRIMD is to prevent the recurrence of incidents of such, through resource mobilization by investing in livelihood improvement initiatives.
The team proceeded to Berending and Essau villages where they shared similar relevant migration messages for the audience.
The youth of the 4 villages raised unemployment as one of the push factors for irregular migration, and urged the network to organize more awareness raising campaigns to deter others from taking to the ‘dangerous journey’.
