ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Five migrants lost their lives and six others were rescued on Monday after their boat sank off the coast of Turkey's Aegean Sea near Izmir city as they tried to make their journey to Europe. The remaining survivors are now facing deportation back to their home countries.
The Turkish coast guard says there are two other migrants still missing and that a search mission is ongoing near the resort city of Cesme.
One of the rescued migrants is Shervan Reso, 23, a Kurdish man who lives in Izmir along with his family. He now faces deportation back to Syria, a decision that has angered his family, calling on the relevant Turkish authorities and international organizations to help overturn the decision.
"Shervan wanted to go to Europe because of the bad economic situation. He even had planned to take us [to Europe] after six months. But their boat sank and this incident happened to him," Evdi Reso, Shervan's father, told Rudaw on Tuesday.
The distraught mother for her part said they have no family members left in Syria.
"We don't want him to be deported back to Syria, because he does not have any relatives in Syria now. We, his family, are all here," Shahinaz Reso said. "Let the lawyers help us, let them not send my child to Syria. Let him be released here."
The other five rescued migrants include two other Syrians, a Palestinian and two Africans.
"If there is no appeal from their lawyers, those refugees who survived the sinking incident will be sent to their home countries," Deysem Siti, a migrant rights activist in Izmir said, adding economic hardships and political issues drive a large number of Kurdish migrants to move to Europe at any cost.
"Because of political situations, Syrian and Kurdish refugees from Rojava want to move to Europe," he added.
The city of Izmir, which is on the border with Greece, is a main stop for refugees to cross to Europe.
Residents of the resort city of Cesme, 100 kilometers from the city center of Izmir complain that their area has become a flashpoint where migrants illegally try to cross to Europe.
"We are strongly against the presence of refugees. That's why I come here every day and see that the Coast Guard seizes a number of refugees every day. We are now very upset. The government is not acting responsibly," Turgay Tunc, a resident of Cesme said.
An estimated 150,000-250,000 Syrian refugees live in Izmir.
Greece's Migration Ministry earlier this week announced that in the first nine months of this year, migrant arrivals in Greece reached 29,700 people, compared to 11,000 in the same period in 2022, the ministry said.
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