ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Three Kurdish migrants have died in France over the past week, including one who was killed, according to a migrant rights activist.
Europe-based migrant rights activist Ranj Pishdari reported the deaths on Sunday, noting that details regarding the slain third migrant's identity and the circumstances of his killing remain unconfirmed.
Shivan Ismail Khalil, a 20-year-old from the northeastern town of Rania, died in a Lille hospital after a virus he contracted in freezing camp conditions worsened, Pishdari told Rudaw’s Gashaw Khalid.
“Because he was brought to the hospital late and the virus had severely affected his health, he passed away last night at midnight,” Pishdari said, adding that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is preparing to assist with repatriation.
A second migrant, identified as Bzhar Fazil Bakozi, from Duhok province, died of a heart attack. Bakozi’s family is yet to be informed of their son’s passing.
With regards to the third migrant, Pishdari explained, “He was killed, but detailed information regarding his identity and the circumstances surrounding his death are not yet available."
Ali Dolamari, the KRG representative to France, told Rudaw that they are aware of the incidents and are actively communicating with the victims’ families. Dolamari stated that diplomatic officials must await the issuance of formal death certificates by French authorities before the bodies can be legally repatriated to the Kurdistan Region.
Both Khalil and Bakozi reached France through Libya, a transit route Iraqi migrants, and smugglers, have been recently using to reach the European continent via the dangerous sea route.
Driven in part by unemployment, economic hardship and the search for better opportunities, young people from the Kurdistan Region continue attempting to reach Europe through Libya and across the Mediterranean.
More than 500 stranded migrants, mostly from the Raparin administration’s city of Rania, have been repatriated from Libya to the Kurdistan Region since 2015, according to local migration directorate data.
Ten Kurdish migrants, predominantly from Rania, are still held captives by armed groups in Libya according to Kurdish member of the Iraqi parliament Muthanna Amin.
Speaking to Rudaw on Friday, Amin said that the Iraqi embassy maintains the sites where the Kurdish immigrants are captive “are not under the authority of the Libyan state, but are controlled by armed groups,” noting that “legally and diplomatically, Iraqi diplomats cannot engage with armed groups and must deal strictly through the government.”
Their release is still pending, despite families paying the requested $4,000 in full.
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