Kurdish family on Belarus border seeks better care for son with special needs

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish family from Sulaimani province are making their "last attempt" to reach Germany, seeking better care for their eight-year-old son with special needs. They have spent tens of thousands of dollars since 2015 on their attempts to reach Europe, which have so far failed.

Taman Sangar was born in 2013 with an issue in his ankle joints. His father, Sangar Jawad, says he has spent up to $50,000 on hospitals, trying to find the right treatment. He has been trying to migrate to Germany with his family since 2015, both legally and illegally, in hope of finding a treatment for his son in order to save his legs. He applied for a German visa in Erbil three times, using his son's medical reports, but was rejected.

In November 2019, Taman (which means 'age' in Kurdish) was left with no option but to have his two legs amputated at a Sulaimani hospital.

Jawad, currently at a logistics center on the Belarusian border, told Rudaw English via WhatsApp that the family is making their "last attempt" to reach Germany where he believes better medical care can be provided for his son. Jawad added that he can no longer afford changing Taman's prosthetic legs almost twice a year.

On September 23, Jawad, his wife, and three children - including Taman - left their hometown of Arbat in Sulaimani province via airplane, landing in Dubai early the next day. They were supposed to travel to Belarus two days later but could not make the trip and stayed in Dubai for a month.

"We arrived in Belarus on October 28. We stayed in Belarus for two nights and then we went to the forest. We stayed there until we moved to this camp [the logistics center] November 8," said Jawad.

"This was my last attempt as a father who tries [to find better lives] for his children. I have no more energy. The reason behind our [attempts] to migrate to Europe is that Taman is now eight years old but as a person with special needs he has not received a penny [from the Kurdish government]. His prosthetic legs need to be changed every eight months and this costs about $6,000 each time," said the father.

"Someone who is a worker lives in a rental house and has no salary cannot afford this. We are migrating because of these factors. If we reach a country like Germany, Taman's prosthetic legs could be changed for free and he could get better service there as well as better education," he added.

Jawad also said that he has sold all his assets and has spent all his savings, as well as the money received from relatives, on providing for his son.

"Before Taman was born, I used to have a house and car. After his birth, we sold the house and car and spent all the money we had [for his recovery]," he said.

Taman has been taunted by children at school in the Kurdistan Region and at the camp he is staying now over his prosthetic legs, the father said, believing that he will not experience discrimination in Germany.

Thousands of people from the Kurdistan Region have used Belarus as a gateway to reach Europe, mainly Germany. However, the majority have not made it and have remained stuck along the Belarus-Poland border. Some have spent weeks in forests, while others have stayed at the logistics center on the border. Jawad and his family have been through both experiences.

Following their disillusion or losing of their passports, over 2,000 people have returned to the Kurdistan Region via flights organized by Erbil and Baghdad. The latest group, consisting of over 400 people, returned on Saturday. Kurdish and Iraqi officials have stated that returning is voluntary, but some migrants have stated otherwise. 

The Kurdistan Region has been confronting an economic crisis since 2014, mostly blamed on the Islamic State (ISIS) war, a dramatic drop in oil prices, and Baghdad's cutting of Erbil's budget. Jawad said he even worked as a taxi driver to make ends meet and cover his son's medical costs, but this was not enough.

Many people from the Kurdistan Region seek medical treatment in neighboring and Western countries due to an overwhelmed domestic health sector.

Jawad fears that they could be repatriated to the Kurdistan Region where he will have to start from scratch to make ends meet and take care of his children, especially Taman.