The President of The National Association of Artisanal Fishing Operators (NAFFO), Fatou Pierre Choi, has decried that fishing boats are now being transformed into vessels for carrying youth on perilous and illegal journeys to the European Union (EU).
Speaking at a day-long workshop organized by The Support to West Africa Integrated Security (SWAIMS) on the theme Young People and Illegal Emigration BySea, Drug Trafficking and Illegal Unregulated Fishing in West Africa, Mrs. Choi said there have beenstaggering reports of young people taking the dangerous and illegal migratory route to Europe over the past few weeks.
The day-long engagement was funded by the EU to improve Maritime security in West Africa.
“These young men and women, some from The Gambia and our neighborhood, felt they had no other option but to partake in the dangerous journey. Now,fishing boats are not only used for captured fish but rather for carrying our youth on illegal dangerous ventures,” Mrs. Choi bemoaned.
She suggested that concerted efforts through engaging the youths in productive activities will pave the way for a more sustainable and prosperous future for them as well as safeguard their well-being and livelihoods.
SWAIMPS expert Barthelemy Blede said The Gambia is not the only country in Africa that SWAIMPS is combating irregular migration through the protection of seas and other means, saying Cote d’Ivoire and the Central Africa Republic are also faced with the issue.
The EU Programme Manager in The Gambia, Enya Braun, explained that part of SWAIMS’s project is an EU-supported initiative, adding the initiative is to support ECOWAS intervention on maritime security in The Gambia. The initiative, she further explained, covers many issues affecting young people.
“In the last few years, Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing has become a prominent problem, especially for the population with the price hike that has happened recently. It is dismaying to hear about the boats that have been stopped in Bakaurisking the lives of many young people,” Mrs. Braun lamented.
On combating drugs, she said her office, through the different EU regional-funded programs, had a two-week exercise with DLEAG on how to search vessels for any hidden illicit drugs, saying the union “is very happy” with its collaboration with the drugs lawenforcement agency.
