Abass
The Gambia
Abass spends most of his time at home writing lyrics and rehaersing songs. He wants to use his migration experience to advocate for the reduction of irregular migration through art and music.
Born in 1999, Abass studied Arabic at school and later dropped out to do tailoring. His family could not continue paying for his school fees, thus had no choice but to begin informal training in tailoring. Abass embarked on the journey to Europe in February 2014, and due to the unbearable circumstances he faced, decided to return home in December 2017 through IOM's assisstance. Today, he is earning a living as a tailor and has a passion for music as well.

Returned migrants play a central role as Volunteers in the development, planning and implementation of the Migrants as Messengers campaign.

Through their stories, the learnings from their migratory experiences and their creativity, MaM Volunteers are the principal authors and actors of the campaign. From 2019-2022, a community of more than 300 volunteers across 7 countries will develop and grow. This community will also have access to diversified training and capacity-building opportunities and be invited to regular activities to support the development of an organic and sustainable community. Female engagement plays an important role within the MaM Volunteer community as they will take the lead in shaping women-to-women dialogue sessions and engaging female audiences more generally.