The Backway: A Critical Analysis of Irregular Migration from West Africa to Europe

Author (s)

Richard Wemesa, Faustin Buteera, Marharyta Ihorivna Dziuba, & Erjona Deshati

Abstract

Irregular migration from West Africa to Europe, known regionally as ‘the Backway’, represents one of the most consequential and lethal socio-economic phenomena of the contemporary era, yet dominant policy frameworks continue to treat it primarily as a law enforcement problem rather than a structural development issue. This study critically examines the structural drivers, enabling mechanisms, economic outcomes, and policy responses shaping undocumented migration among youth from The Gambia, Senegal, Guinea, and Mali, testing three hypotheses derived from the Aspirations-Capabilities framework, the New Economics of Labour Migration (NELM), and the criminalisation paradox. Employing a systematic integrative literature review of secondary sources published between 2015 and 2025, the research synthesises findings from peer-reviewed scholarship, United Nations agency reports, World Bank datasets, and policy documents using thematic analysis across six predefined themes. Findings indicate that irregular migration functions as a rational household-level economic strategy in contexts where youth unemployment exceeds 60 percent, political repression persists, climate-driven agricultural shocks intensify, and legal migration channels remain virtually closed. Transnational smuggling networks have adapted into profit-driven operations capitalising on enforcement policies, thereby increasing migrant vulnerability and financial exploitation – a dynamic termed the criminalisation paradox. Remittances constitute approximately 25 percent of Gambian GDP, yet their development impact remains constrained by structural weaknesses, and European Union externalisation strategies demonstrably fail to address root causes while generating significant humanitarian costs. The study concludes that irregular migration from West Africa is not an irrational pathology but a predictable, structurally compelled response to entrenched exclusion and institutional failure, contributing an original conceptual model synthesising five theoretical frameworks and offering evidence-based policy recommendations including expanded legal migration pathways, development investments targeting structural drivers, and equitable regional governance partnerships.

Key words: Irregular migration, West Africa, The Gambia, Backway, push-pull factors, remittances, smuggling networks, EU migration policy, Externalisation, aspirations-capabilities framework.

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Cite This Article:

Wemesa, R., Buteera, F., Dziuba, M. I., & Deshati, E. (2026). The Backway: A Critical Analysis of Irregular Migration from West Africa to Europe, Journal of Scientific Reports, 14(1), 138-153.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.58970/JSR.1209

About Author (s)

Richard Wemesa (Corresponding Author), Department of Management Sciences, King Ceasor University, Uganda; Department of Applied Business Administration, Cornerstone University Uganda;  Department of Economics, Powislanska Academy of Applied Sciences, Kwidzyn, Gdansk, Koscierzyna, Torun, Poland; Department of Business Administration, Unicaf University, Uganda. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3425-4268

Faustin Buteera, Department of Theology and Christian Ministry, Cornerstone University, Uganda. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7010-4014

Marharyta Ihorivna Dziuba, Department for international students, Khmelnytskyi National University, Instytuts’ka St, 11, Oblast Ukraine. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8077-5532

Erjona Deshati, Faculty of Economy, Canadian Institute of Technology (CIT), Tirana, Albania. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0486-6384

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.58970/JSR.1209

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