He ECOWAS Parliament has called on member states to create more jobs for young people, strengthen anti-trafficking laws and expand support for returnees as part of a comprehensive strategy to tackle irregular migration in West Africa.
The recommendations emerged at the end of a parliamentary citizen participation meeting on the dangers of irregular migration and modern slavery held in Banjul, The Gambia.
Presenting the outcome of the engagement, mission member Billay Tunkara said Parliament remained committed to promoting a people-centred approach to migration governance, ensuring citizens’ views informed legislative action across the region.
“Those solutions require listening to communities, empowering youth, supporting survivors and returnees, strengthening families, and creating opportunities that enable young people to choose hope, dignity, and prosperity at home over the risks of irregular migration,” Tunkara said.
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According to Parliament, participants identified unemployment, underemployment, low income, limited access to education and vocational training and inadequate economic opportunities as the main drivers of irregular migration.
The engagement found that many young people believed that opportunities in their home countries were insufficient to ensure a prosperous future, reinforcing the perception that migration remained the only viable route to improve their livelihoods.
Participants also identified family expectations, peer influence and social networks as important factors encouraging irregular migration, noting that stories and images portraying successful migrants abroad, along with financial support from family members, continued to push young people to undertake dangerous journeys despite known risks.
Parliament said testimonies from returnees and survivors revealed the harsh realities of irregular migration, including deception, exploitation, forced labour, abuse, detention, family separation and severe psychological trauma.
However, participants agreed that survivors and returnees could play a vital role in discouraging irregular migration by sharing their experiences with communities.
The pledge also concluded that awareness campaigns alone would not solve the problem unless they were supported by sustainable employment opportunities, entrepreneurship support, vocational skills development, agricultural modernization, improved access to finance and greater investment in youth empowerment.
Participants further called for stronger reintegration programs for returnees and survivors, highlighting that successful reintegration required psychosocial care, skills acquisition, livelihood support, job placement, community acceptance and protection from stigma.
They also expressed concern about the profitability of migrant smuggling compared to what they described as weak penalties under existing laws, and urged governments to strengthen legislation, improve law enforcement and dismantle organized criminal networks involved in human trafficking.
Among its key resolutions, Parliament urged ECOWAS member states to prioritize investments in technology, agriculture and vocational education to create sustainable jobs for youth.
He also called for greater cross-border cooperation, intelligence sharing and coordinated law enforcement against migrant smuggling and smuggling networks, as well as greater access to affordable financing for young entrepreneurs, returnees and survivors seeking to rebuild their lives.
Lawmakers recommended greater investment in education, including technical and vocational institutions, and proposed integrating lessons on irregular migration and human trafficking into school curricula from primary to tertiary levels.
In addition, they urged governments to improve border surveillance, accelerate immigration law reforms, strengthen anti-trafficking legislation and increase investment in communities most affected by irregular migration.
Parliament also called for greater involvement of traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil society organisations, media and families in sustained public awareness campaigns aimed at discouraging irregular migration and countering misinformation.
It encouraged families to refrain from financing irregular migration and urged communities to support the reintegration of returnees and survivors, recognizing their potential to act as advocates against human trafficking.
The lawmakers also proposed institutionalizing parliamentary engagements with students from all ECOWAS member states to strengthen citizen participation, parliamentary oversight and evidence-based policymaking on migration and regional integration.
Parliament said the consultations reaffirmed that irregular migration and human trafficking remain complex regional challenges that require coordinated action by governments, parliaments, communities, civil society organisations, development partners and families.
He added that discussions held in Bakau, Brikama and Barra demonstrated that lasting solutions cannot be achieved through law enforcement alone, but require sustained socio-economic investments that offer young people viable alternatives to dangerous migration routes.
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