Kurdish family in English Channel tragedy laid to rest in Sardasht
SARDASHT, Iran — Rasul Iran Nejad sold his house and car to provide the money he needed to get to Europe with his wife and young children.
The morning they left, Rasul's parents were told that they were headed to visit relatives in Tehran. From Turkey, Rasul called them and said his family were headed for Europe. They were hoping to reach the UK.
They wouldn’t reach their final destination.
Rasul, 35, his wife, Shiwa Rasoul-Panahi, 35 and their children Anita, 9, Armin, 6, and 15-month old baby Artin all perished in October while trying to reach the UK, drowning in waters between France and the English coast. The bodies of all but Artin – who remains missing – were laid to rest in Sardasht on Saturday.
Sardasht, located 330km north of Sanadaj, the centre of Iran’s Kurdistan province, is well-known for its large rivers and oak trees. Nowadays, it is known for high rates of unemployment – pushing people to take on precarious work as kolbars, transporting goods across the treacherous mountain paths to the Kurdistan Region.
In recent years, a large number of young people have decided to leave altogether in search of a better life. The Iran Nejad family was among those seeking a brighter future.
‘We would have stopped him’
Rasul’s brother Ali Iran Nejad, 44, spoke to Rudaw English as his brother, sister-in-law and their children were buried in a cemetery west of the city.
"Like my parents, we weren't aware of my brother and his family immigrating to Europe, although we had known that they had travelled to Turkey and were deported back to Iran some months before,” he said through tears.
“My brother got married and worked as a labourer for 11 years,” Ali continued, wiping his eyes. “He had his own house and car. It was four months and three days ago that he abandoned Sardasht and sold his house and car …without telling us he was leaving. He knew if he had told us, we would have stopped him.”
"We were just crossing our fingers for their safety. My brother and his family spent that large sum of money and they failed to make it. After everything, we are just thankful that we have their bodies,” he said.
At the funeral, the cries and wails of the grieving fill the air. Among the loudest is Rasul’s mother Manijeh Yousefiyan, crying for baby Artin’s body to be returned home.
After the onset of the economic crisis in Iran and further US sanctions, migration has become a common phenomenon among people, especially in Kurdish areas in the west of Iran, where employment is scarce.
Kamal Hosseinpour, parliamentary representative for Sardasht and Piranshahr, has said that more than 1,000 people from Sardasht and the surrounding areas have left for the Europe in the past five months.
"Some people asked why they did it. What are you expected to do when there is no life?” said mourner Simko Yari, 29.
He says he has made his mind up to go to Europe, despite knowing the risks.
"Authorities are constantly advising us not to leave the country. But there is no use in staying here, where I will remain poor.”
As evening closed in, a harsh cold filled the cemetery as people bade farewell, one by one, to the Iran Nejad family.
“I intend to smuggle myself out in spring. Either I will get a life I deserve as a human being, or I will die, like this family. There is no other way," said Yari.