The NCID Resident Fellow Tijan Bah organized a day's workshop in The Gambia to talk to stakeholders about his project on the intentions of Gambian youth to irregulary migrate to Europe. The research project intends to give information to youngsters on the risk of travelling and offer vocational training programmes to the youth.

The researcher has also analized how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the intentions to migrate: "We have found that migration intention to both Europe and especially to Senegal decreased. Those who were unsure pre covid-19 and poor individuals for whom may have made liquidity constraints more binding”, Bah says. However, the researcher insists that desire for migration still is a majority with a 55%, with 15% thinking about using the 'back-way', which emphasizes the need for safe legal paths.

During the project, which has been financed by the European Commission, they have worked with about 4,000 young males in the Upper and Central River Regions of The Gambia from 2019 to 2021. Such event was covered by National Television and by local Gambian newspaper The Point.