The Gambia’s missing sons and daughters
March 30, 2017
Can the country’s new president persuade its youth to stop risking their lives to reach foreign soil?
Janjanbureh, The Gambia – The air is hot and dry, and the main road that dissects this riverside town is devoid of any sign of life. Janjanbureh was once the second largest town in The Gambia. Now, it is nowhere near that – its old colonial buildings are barely standing and most of its residents have left for other parts of the country, or for Europe in search of greener pastures.
Alieu Bah sits under a tree in the courtyard of his two-bedroom house off the main thoroughfare, taking shelter from the afternoon heat.
Three weeks ago the father-of-12 received the news that any parent dreads the most: his son, Sailu Bah, had been killed by human traffickers in Libya as he attempted to embark upon the final leg of a perilous journey to Italy.
“A young man from this town who was with him called us and told us Sailu was beaten to death by the smugglers,” Bah says as his eyes fill with tears.
