Jane Hahn Photography

past work: gambia's migration

At the start of the migration crisis of 2015, the Gambia, a small nation situated within the West African country of Senegal reported the highest numbers trying to cross the sea into Europe. Called "The Back Way", thousands of young Gambian men take the harrowing journey overland from the Gambia into Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, then Niger, through the desert to Libya and it they make it out of Tripoli, the treacherous sea crossing into Europe. These men and women risk everything to provide a better life for their families.  

  • Fissa, 33, sits on his bed under the shadows of the frame of his thatched roof at his home in Perai Village, Gambia.
  • Fissa, 33, directs his younger brother standing in the doorway of his home in Perai Village
  • Ibrahima, 12, plays on a clothes line in Dampha Kunda Village
  • A young girls walks through the family compound of Fissa, 33, in Perai Village
  • Susso, 38, plays with his children, niece and nephew in his home in Dampha Kunda Village. Susso, 38, has saved 17,000 Dalasis (roughly $400) in a lock box and plans to use a portion to fund the {quote}back way{quote} trip he will begin from the Gambia to Libya in close to a week and the rest he will leave for his family. This will be Susso's third attempt to reach Europe.
  • Susso, 38, holds the micro SD card he will use to store the photos he will take on the {quote}back way{quote} journey  to Europe (through the Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger through the desert to Libya), in his home in Dampha Kunda Village. This will be Susso's third attempt to reach Europe.
  • Susso, 38, has saved 17,000 Dalasis (roughly $400) in a lock box in his home in Dampha Kunda Village, Gambia. He will use a portion to fund the {quote}back way{quote} trip he will begin from the Gambia to Libya in close to a week and the rest he will leave for his family. This will be Susso's third attempt to reach Europe.
  • Susso, 38, has saved 17,000 Dalasis (roughly $400) in a lock box in his home in Dampha Kunda Village, Gambia. He will use a portion to fund the {quote}back way{quote} trip he will begin from the Gambia to Libya in close to a week and the rest he will leave for his family. This will be Susso's third attempt to reach Europe.
  • Family photos belonging to Susso, 38, lie on his bed next to his keys in his home in Dampha Kunda Village.
  • Susso, 38, walks through his compound in Dampha Kunda Village
  • Seedy Ceesay, 70s, sits in his home next to his granddaughter Fatoumata, in Dampha Kunda Vilage, Gambia. Ceesay's first born son who took the {quote}back way{quote} to Europe but died in Libya due to an illness and his second son is in Europe now.
  • A young woman looks out the window of a home that was build with money sent from a relative living in Europe in Perai Village
  • Dusu Fatty adjusts the curtains in her bedroom in the home built from money sent by her husband who lives in Spain, in Perai Village
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  • The home of Foday Ceesay, who currently has six family members across Europe and is said to have the nicest compound in Dampha Kunda Village, Gambia
  • Women pound maize by a tree in Perai Village, Gambia
  • People walk through the market in Brikama-ba Village, Gambia
  • Ibrahima. Banjul, Gambia
  •  Dampha Kunda Village
  • Unemployed young men gather under a tree in Dampha Kunda Village. The lack of employment across the country is a major contributing factor in the decision to take {quote}The Back Way{quote}
  • Transport International bus station in Banjul, Gambia
  • Transport International bus station in Banjul, Gambia
  • Amadou looks out the window from the bus as he begins the {quote}back way {quote} journey traveling from Banjul, Gambia through three other countries before reaching Agadez, Niger where he will cross the desert to Libya before making his way to Europe
  • Leaving Banjul, Gambia.
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