Research Snapshots
For two years, the Backway to Europe project developed through collective conversations with YAIM members, tracing different stages of their journeys and discussing experiences of obstruction, structural violence, and technologies of containment.
In this image, Viola sketches as YAIM members recount their experiences. The drawings became a visual record that supported collective reflection and analysis.
An IOM placquard commemorating the December 2019 shipwreck off the coast of Nouadhibou, Mauritania.
The boat had departed from The Gambia and was bound for the Canary Islands, carrying an estimated 150 to 200 people.
It sank after developing problems at sea; IOM reported 78 Gambian survivors and nine Senegalese survivors, while 62 people were reported dead.
The notice is displayed near Westfield Roundabout in Serrekunda, one of the busiest urban areas in The Gambia.
Motivational posters produced by the Tekki Fii initiative, a programme funded through the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa. Tekki Fii aimed to stop irregularized migration by improving employment and income opportunities for Gambian youth, including returning migrants, through training, entrepreneurship, employment support, and access to finance. Its messaging encouraged young people to imagine a future in The Gambia; it also reached people returning through IOM-supported voluntary return and reintegration programmes.
During visits to the Upper River Region, YAIM members meet young people and local communities to discuss everyday survival, employment, migration, and the consequences of the “backway.” Viola accompanied YAIM on several of these visits, observing conversations in which participants recognised both the profound human and social costs of the journey and the difficulty many face in meeting their own and their families’ basic needs through local work.
A room in a disused school building, now used as a community health centre in a village in the Upper River Region. YAIM temporarily transformed the space into a screening room. One of the group’s sensitisation tools was a documentary on Libya’s detention system, including distressing testimonies and images of people held in detention centres. Screenings were followed by collective discussions on restrictive visa regimes, resource extraction, government accountability, and the limited opportunities available to young people.
After a discussion with YAIM members, village chiefs, imams, farmers, and young residents, young girls play a tabletop game designed to support English learning. YAIM also organised football matches and tournaments as ways to engage young people and strengthen community ties. These activities reflect the mission of Football for a New Tomorrow, a Danish organisation that has financially supported YAIM’s work since 2021.
A billboard for Him & Her Fashion Shop, a business supported by Empretec-Gambia and GIEPA, two Gambian training and business-support organisations that partnered with UNDP and participated in the Tekki Fii programme. The billboard’s language of “modifying behaviours for sustainable business growth” reflects a development approach centred on individual entrepreneurship - an approach that Backway to Europe examines in relation to the externalisation of European border policy through development initiatives.
YAIM members prepare ataya during a workshop break. Ataya is a strong, sweet green tea commonly shared throughout the day and associated with socialising, rest, and reconnection. Prepared in homes, public spaces, and workplaces, it often accompanies conversations among friends and family as well as pauses during collective work.
A gathering on Senegambia Beach marking the end of the first phase of the project. Over three months, we held 12 extended collective discussions, tracing members’ journeys, discussing Libya’s detention system, and examining the roles of institutions such as IOM and cooperation agencies involved in return and reintegration programmes.
Credits : Clara Marnette
YAIM members prepare ataya during a workshop break. Ataya is a strong, sweet green tea commonly shared throughout the day and associated with socialising, rest, and reconnection. Prepared in homes, public spaces, and workplaces, it often accompanies conversations among friends and family as well as pauses during collective work.