A young Gambian, who took the back way to Europe, is now a PhD student at the University of Valencia in Spain.
Alagie Jinkang left the Gambia shortly after completing his Higher Teacher’s Certificate, crossing the Mediterranean Sea in a Smuggler’s boat.
He eventually reached Italy, where he was granted asylum. The 29-year-old was unable to speak a word of Italian.
Alagie is now a PhD student after bagging a three -year scholarship in 2016. He is currently analysing the values behind the institutions of migration to see whether they have different ethical arguments about what is good or bad life for migrants.
In an interview with The Point’s Adam Jobe, he said: “If institutions that are supposed to guarantee human rights are accommodating all forms of modern human rights violation, there must be something wrong somewhere.”
Alagie added: “It is high time we asked what is wrong with our institutions, and that is what I would be doing.”
The 29-year-old holds a Master of Law degree in comparative law, economics and finance from the International University College of Turin.
He is among hundreds of young Gambians who arrived in Italy in search of better opportunities. They were crammed into boats by smugglers, which was risky and very dangerous.