Money Gambians send home from Europe is a lifeline for their families but the sacrifices take a toll WSOC TV [Video]

KWINELLA, Gambia — (AP) — Binta Bah met her husband last year on a dating app and instantly fell in love. They spent hours every day glued to their mobile phones and soon got married on a video call.

But they’ve met in person only once, when Suleyman Bah came home to Gambia for a visit, months after the wedding. He is one of tens of thousands of West Africans who have undertaken the perilous journey to Europe, and is now working in a factory in Germany.

Every month he sends money home. He is not alone — Gambians abroad send hundreds of millions of dollars a year in remittances, according to the World Bank. The remittances account for a fourth of the tiny country’s economy — the highest such proportion on the African continent.

Even as European countries increase their efforts to keep migrants out, Gambians and other West Africans keep risking the dangerous route, known …