Banjul, the Gambia – Ten years in the past, Alagie’s life in Banjul wasn’t straightforward. Nonetheless, he had each his dad and mom, a spouse, a house, and a dream of constructing a greater life for all of them in Europe.

Now the 34-year-old, who requested that his full identify not be used to guard his privateness, has misplaced a lot of what he had.

Alagie left the Gambia in 2014, taking the irregular “backway” to Europe earlier than he was forcibly returned eight years later.

“I wished the very best for my spouse and future youngsters,” he instructed Al Jazeera about his choice to depart, trying sadly on the wedding ceremony picture on his wall.

Though nonetheless married, he can not afford to assist his spouse and their 10-month-old child, forcing her to return to her dad and mom’ house.

“My spouse loves me deeply,” he mentioned. “If it weren’t real love, she would have divorced me and moved on.”

When Alagie first left for Europe, he travelled to Morocco by boat, then smuggled himself by land by way of Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, earlier than crossing the Mediterranean in direction of Italy.

The difficulties began virtually instantly. “Many migrants I travelled with from Libya – principally from Mali, Nigeria, and some Gambians – drowned. I used to be among the many few fortunate ones who made it to Italy,” he mentioned.

Touchdown in Italy in 2015, he was instantly positioned in a refugee camp for a number of months. “The simple life I imagined in Europe was nothing like the tough actuality I confronted in Italy.”

Determined, Alagie determined to smuggle himself to Germany with others from Senegal, Niger and Nigeria. They thought they might discover higher alternatives, however after crossing the border, they had been picked up by German authorities and despatched to a different refugee camp.

“It was like leaping from the frying pan into the fireplace. We had been packed like sardines, remoted from cities and any social life.”

Later, Alagie discovered work as a petroleum station attendant, the identical job he held again within the Gambia. He’d ship cash house to his household each different month whereas striving to safe asylum.

“Life there was arduous, however dwelling within the Gambia is way worse than even the refugee camps,” he mentioned, preferring the hardships in Europe.

However Alagie’s days in Europe had been numbered. Sooner or later in September 2022, whereas he was making breakfast within the small home he rented with different migrants, plainclothes German cops burst in. “They handcuffed me like a felony and held me in a [refugee] camp for 2 months earlier than placing me on a flight again to the Gambia,” he mentioned.

Upon arrival in Banjul, he was left with no cash or assist. “I got here house empty-handed, to an empty nation.”

Migration and return

Irregular migration has lengthy been a problem within the Gambia, with many younger individuals – pushed by poverty – risking their lives to get to Europe in the hunt for higher alternatives.

Greater than 35,000 Gambians arrived within the European Union between 2015 and 2022, in line with Frontex, the EU border management company. Throughout peak durations, some 7,000 Gambians tried emigrate yearly, pushed by dire political and financial situations.

Beneath the 1996-2017 regime of President Yahya Jammeh, many individuals fled autocratic rule and had been granted asylum within the West resulting from political repression. Because the transition to democracy in 2017, extra asylum functions from Gambians have been rejected in comparison with earlier than, because the nation is taken into account extra secure.

There has additionally been elevated cooperation between the Gambian authorities and the EU on migration administration, together with the “Good Apply Settlement”, which outlines procedures across the return of migrants.

Since 2017, greater than 5,000 Gambians have returned, in line with the Worldwide Group for Migration (IOM). Some are deportees, however most are voluntary repatriations, the IOM mentioned. Some returned due to the extreme hardships they encountered in Europe, whereas others had been stranded in Libya, by no means making it throughout the Mediterranean to start with.

Among the many Gambians who go away, many say the dire social and financial situations make them decided to threat the crossing.

The Gambia suffers from excessive youth unemployment, at round 41 p.c – a driving power behind irregular migration. The economic system, which is closely depending on agriculture and tourism, additionally relies on remittances from Gambians overseas. In line with World Financial institution knowledge, remittances accounted for round 26 p.c of the gross home product (GDP) in 2023.

Like many different migrants, Alagie’s dad and mom supported his choice to depart by way of irregular routes, hoping he would change their lives for the higher. Sadly, each handed away whereas he was overseas, leaving him with a deep sense of remorse.

“They died whereas I used to be away, with out me making their lives higher,” he lamented.

‘I assumed Europe could be totally different’

Alagie’s migration journey is echoed in conversations with different individuals round Banjul.

Musa Faye is in his early 60s. He first left the Gambia at age 38, finally making it to the USA, the place he lived for twenty years till he was deported in 2017.

“Life within the Gambia appeared higher again then,” he mirrored. “Now, it’s a catastrophe – nothing is functioning, and the nation is in a dire state.”

Faye left behind a spouse and three youngsters within the Gambia, with the hope of constructing sufficient cash to take them to the US – nevertheless it by no means panned out.

“There aren’t any jobs in Gambia; individuals undergo on daily basis,” the taxi driver mentioned. “I did the identical job in America, however right here it’s a nightmare. At my age, I needs to be fascinated by retirement, however that’s not an choice.

“The American dream didn’t prove as I had hoped,” he mentioned, “nevertheless it’s nonetheless much better than life right here.”

The attract of life overseas, typically amplified by social media, drives many to threat perilous journeys in the hunt for a greater life.

Rohey, who didn’t wish to disclose her surname to keep up anonymity, was seduced by the glamorous photos she noticed posted on social media by a highschool pal dwelling in Italy.

“I assumed Europe was like jannah [paradise]. Seeing her posts made me assume, ‘That is the life I would like, too,’” the 36-year-old salon employee mentioned.

So she launched into the dangerous journey in 2010, arriving in Libya in 2011, simply because the civil struggle erupted. That’s when her “nightmare” started.

“I used to be raped a number of occasions and compelled into arduous labour with out pay,” Rohey mentioned.

Nonetheless, she wished to proceed, finally paying smugglers to cross the Mediterranean to Italy. “I needed to cover some cash in my pants simply to afford the journey.”

In Italy, she labored as a hairdresser however discovered life removed from the paradise she had envisioned. “I assumed Europe could be totally different – straightforward cash and life. I used to be improper.” Her room was a tiny, leaking area she describes as a “hell”.

Again within the Gambia since 2019, Rohey works in a salon simply outdoors Banjul. “The salon is nearly all the time empty. Typically I stroll 6km [4 miles] house as a result of I can’t even make sufficient for transport fare,” she mentioned.

Rohey considers her return a type of “voluntary deportation”, saying that many migrant ladies are compelled into prostitution – a destiny she refused to simply accept, so she left. “I’d slightly return to the hardship in my house nation than interact in prostitution,” she mentioned.

Years of journey

The street migrants journey to achieve their imagined higher life overseas is nearly all the time an arduous one, and the journey typically takes years.

Ousman Jobe, now 44, first ventured throughout the Sahara in 1998 at simply 18. His journey from the Gambia to Morocco took 4 gruelling years. “We drove by way of the Sahara Desert, typically masking over 1,000km [620 miles] earlier than seeing one other nation,” he remembered.

Jobe travelled with greater than 40 Gambians in a truck, some as younger as 15, together with ladies and youngsters. The journey was perilous. “We ran out of water, and we needed to drink our urine or have another person urinate in our mouths as a result of we had none left,” he mentioned.

The tough situations claimed many lives, principally from Senegal and Mali. Because the eldest, Jobe was liable for burying them. “We buried them in mass graves or typically simply left their our bodies.”

There have been different risks, too. “[Criminals] stopped us on the best way to Algeria by way of Morocco, forcefully taking the lads’s cash whereas raping the ladies in entrance of us,” he mentioned. “It was devastating to witness, however we had been helpless.”

Jobe left the Gambia as a result of he “was uninterested in seeing my dad and mom in poverty”, he mentioned, and wished to assist them. Tragically, his mom – who offered goats to earn the cash wanted for his crossing to Europe – handed away in 2021 earlier than seeing the household’s dream of a greater life fulfilled.

Morro, one other returnee who requested that his actual identify not be used, additionally wanted “important funds” for his 2019 journey – cash additionally raised by his dad and mom.

“My dad and mom supported me on this journey as a result of they simply wished me to achieve Europe and higher their lives,” the now 28-year-old mentioned.

However his journey ended virtually as quickly because it started when the small boat he was travelling in sank off the coast of Mauritania. Greater than 60 Gambians died that day, however Morro narrowly escaped. “My swimming abilities saved me from drowning,” he mentioned.

He returned house instantly afterwards, however nonetheless relives the trauma of that day. “It’s arduous to elucidate. It was probably the most devastating and painful expertise of my life.”

Morro has since joined D419, an affiliation of survivors and returnees named after the date of the shipwreck, December 4, 2019. The group’s targets are to honour those that died and lift consciousness in regards to the perils of comparable journeys. “We have to battle in opposition to this harmful route,” mentioned Morro, now a vocal advocate in opposition to irregular migration.

However he nonetheless desires of taking a safer path to Europe. “Europe is so totally different from the Gambia. If I had made it there, my life and my household’s would have reworked for the higher,” he mentioned.

Since Jobe’s voluntary return to the Gambia in 2019, he has additionally used his voice to discourage others from taking the irregular path to Europe. “I wish to discourage others from utilizing this harmful route … It’s lethal, and folks have to be warned.”

However he admits life is just not straightforward in Banjul. He was making a dwelling by driving a taxi, however now sells secondhand sneakers in his neighbourhood. “On day, I make 1,000 dalasi ($14),” he mentioned, “however some days I am going house and not using a sale.” Dwelling hand to mouth, Jobe typically has to decide on between meals and lease.

Struggling to manage

For individuals taking the backway to Europe and the US, the journey is often fraught with risks whereas their time spent within the West typically comes with merciless therapy and even violence, the IOM has famous.

In March, as an example, Gambian Lamin Touray was killed by German authorities, and his ugly demise was captured on video. Final 12 months, Gambian Basirou Jallow was murdered by a German nationwide. And this 12 months, whereas being deported, Saikou Kanteh endured a brutal assault by German authorities. He was gagged with a metallic ring earlier than being forcibly despatched again to the Gambia; it took days for the metallic ring to be faraway from his mouth.

Again house, there are additional challenges. The psychological well being disaster amongst Gambian deportees has reached alarming ranges, specialists say, with many struggling extreme psychological misery, and a few even taking their very own lives.

In 2019, Buba Baldeh, a deportee from Italy, was arrested for killing two sufferers on the Gambia’s solely psychiatric hospital, Tanka Tanka. The 27-year-old was deported in 2018 after a failed asylum bid and subsequently struggled with psychological sickness. The victims had been fellow sufferers on the hospital, additionally believed to be deportees from Italy.

Earlier this 12 months, a younger man from the Central River area of the nation, deported from Italy, ended his life. In his suicide word, he wrote: “I’m asking everybody for forgiveness. I’ve nothing on this life, so I made a decision to kill myself.”

His brother, Foday, described him as a loving man who wished the very best for his household. “His deportation took a heavy toll on him, and he ended his life at 26 years.”

At Tanka Tanka Psychiatric Hospital, the ability’s matron, Bakary Camara, instructed Al Jazeera that 12 returnees are at present admitted and affected by psychological well being points.

“A few of the deportees are taken straight from the airport to the psychiatric hospital as a result of that they had already been identified with psychological problems in Germany or Italy and deported straight to the Gambia. Others are dropped at the hospital by their households after exhibiting indicators of psychological well being issues upon their return,” Camara mentioned.

“We’re overwhelmed with instances like these in the mean time.”

For its half, the Gambian authorities mentioned it’s dedicated to the reintegration of returnees, working intently with worldwide organisations together with the United Nations and organising programmes to help with abilities coaching, and reintegration.

“We’re actively collaborating with growth companions to make sure returnees have the alternatives and assets to rebuild their lives,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Youth mentioned. “By means of vocational coaching, psychosocial assist, and entrepreneurship, we goal to empower them and mitigate the basis causes of irregular migration.”

Gambia-EU settlement

In 2018, the Gambia and the EU signed the Good Apply Settlement, aiming to handle the return of Gambian migrants. It was a part of a broader effort to handle irregular migration and strengthen cooperation between the 2.

Nonetheless, the settlement sparked widespread debate, particularly on social media and significantly when a flight from Germany in February 2019 confronted entry points resulting from an absence of communication with Banjul authorities. A public demonstration the following month highlighted the tensions surrounding the deal, particularly as there was a moratorium on migrant returns in place till 2022.

This July, following native media studies alleging frequent deportations from Europe and a excessive variety of returnees, the EU’s ambassador to the Gambia, Corrado Pampaloni, mentioned: “There aren’t any mass deportations happening from European nations to the Gambia or every other nation”.

He mentioned returns had been occurring in small numbers (tens as an alternative of lots of) and that deportations that do happen are doubtless resulting from particular bilateral agreements or exceptions that permit deportations from sure nations.

Nonetheless, Yahya Sonko, a Gambian migrant activist primarily based in Germany, mentioned greater than 400 Gambians had been repatriated in 2023 alone. Moreover, there are greater than 20,000 undocumented Gambians at present residing in Europe.

Whereas many Gambians had been granted asylum within the West in the course of the Jammeh period – the precise quantity is just not recognized, however has included journalists, politicians and activists – individuals like Alagie weren’t so lucky.

His utility was rejected in 2017, the identical 12 months the democratic authorities of President Adama Barrow assumed energy.

“They rejected my asylum as a result of they mentioned we might return house to a secure Gambia,” Alagie mentioned, including that German authorities instructed him his house nation was “a brand new democratic state” whereas turning down his utility.

Alagie expressed his frustration with Barrow’s administration, calling it a “curse”.

“Now we’re again to nothing, and it’s miserable to dwell on this nation,” he mentioned.

Regardless of the dangers, together with the excessive variety of Gambian deaths on perilous journeys, many proceed emigrate.

Alagie understands the lure of Europe, which shines as a beacon of hope for him and plenty of younger Gambians – regardless of the threats they know are there.

Decided to return, he’s even contemplating taking the arduous backway route but once more.

“I wish to higher my spouse and youngster’s lives,” Alagie mentioned. “I’ll die attempting.”