Aveen Irfan Tahir, 38, her husband and five children left their hometown of Zakho in Duhok province on October 4, seeking a better life in Europe. After the family arrived on the Belarus-Poland border, Aveen and the six-month-old baby she was carrying in her stomach froze to death on December 3.
Her body was returned to her family in Zakho on Friday for the last farewell and later buried in Talkabar cemetery in Zakho.
“We returned her [body to home] because none of us had seen her for a long time. We all wanted to see her and go toward her as we could not do anything for her [while she was alive],” Aysha Adil, Aveen’s relative, told Rudaw on Friday during her mourning ceremony.
Sarbast Shukri, another relative of the dead migrant, said the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and humanitarian organizations helped them return Aveen’s body. “It was good that she was returned.”
Thousands of Iraqi and Kurdish people travelled to Eastern Europe late last year, where they hoped to cross over and make their way to Germany and, from there, the rest of Europe.
In response, Poland has tightened its border security. Some migrants on the Belarus-Poland border have sustained injuries, and several others have lost their lives.
KRG, in coordination with the Iraqi government, has repatriated thousands of Kurdish from Belarus-Poland borders. However, a great number of them still remain there.
