Paper short abstract:

EU-funded information campaigns continue to gain momentum. However, little is known on how EU-sponsored narratives interact with or impact locally produced narratives on migration and Europe. This paper shows how locally produced migration narratives interact with EU-funded narratives in The Gambia.

Paper long abstract:

Information campaigns funded by the EU or its member states are a tool increasingly used to deter potential migrants from coming to Europe. While scholars have already analysed different aspects of the set-up and conduct of such campaigns, there is still a gap in our knowledge of how such EU-sponsored campaigns interact with or impact local narratives on migration and Europe. Building upon extensive fieldwork including focus groups and interviews in the Gambia, this article looks at how (potential) migrants perceive and react to these EU-funded information campaigns. It examines the wider narratives on the topics which these campaigns seek to influence (i.e., on migration; the migratory route; opportunities at home and life in Europe). The article shows that the narrative of (potential) migrants in the Gambia has remained largely detached from the ones promoted by EU(-funded) actors, albeit some exceptions exist. It outlines some wider reflections upon how structural factors making individuals migrate actually interact with such information campaigns and migration narratives.

Keywords : information campaigns, EU, migration, migration drivers, migration narratives