DUHOK, Kurdistan Region — After a year and a half, it was confirmed last week that a Kurdish family who had left Duhok for Europe in late 2017 had died in the Aegean Sea after the smuggler revealed the news under pressure.
Sherzad Abdul Aziz, his wife and four children left for Europe in November 2017. Their relatives heard nothing from them by month’s end. In early-April 2019, they were shocked to learn all of their kin had all drowned in the sea.
"My brother [Sherzad] was a Peshmerga. They were living in a rental house in Doumiz. He sold all he owned and went to Turkey," Hevidar Abdul Aziz, recounted to Rudaw. "When he arrived in Turkey, he called and said he was planning to go to Europe through smuggling routes."
On November 27, 2017, they left Turkey for Italy “but since then, we have not heard from them.”
The children, two girls and two boys, ranged in age from 5-12. The father was 28 and the mother was 25.
He said the silence was anguishing. They grilled the smuggler multiple times, but he kept denying he knew anything.
"I tried a lot with him, but it was fruitless until I decided to seize a brother of the smuggler and threatened him. I called the smuggler again, and under pressure he finally revealed that they had died by drowning at sea," he said.
According to the United Nations, more than 1,700 migrants died trying to cross into Europe in 2018.
- Kurdish mother and children drowned in Aegean to be repatriated
- A week on, refugee agency trying to repatriate bodies of Kurds from Turkey
- Nine Iraqi migrants drown off Turkish coast, including 7 children
Peshmerga soldiers are among other groups of the society who leave the Kurdistan Region and trek the dangerous road to try to reach the European Union.
In October last year, a month before Sherzad and his family had left Kurdistan, Issa Abdulrahman, another Peshmerga from Duhok, was traveling with his wife and five children, but they also ended up dying in the Aegean.
Under a deal with the European Union, Turkey has restricted access to Europe from its borders — taking in billions of dollars to shelter the migrants — but many still risk the dangerous voyage.
Smugglers are often blamed for providing small boats without safety equipment which eventually lead to the death of those migrating.
However, they have a conflicting point-of-view.
"Whenever we reach an agreement with somebody to take him to Greece, we explain to them in the first place how risky the road is and tell them that we are not responsible for their life and whatever happens to them on the way," a Kurdish smuggler of 20 years who lives in Turkey told Rudaw.
"Therefore such incidents are normal in our opinion," he said.
“Whenever something wrong happens to their relatives they start to threaten us from Kurdistan,” he said referring to the upset relatives of the deceased.
He explained, many other families like those of Sherzad have drowned in the sea and nobody even knows.
"There are tens of Kurdish families who have drowned at sea and yet their families believe they are alive — waiting for them to return."
As the EU has tightened its immigration policy, many migrants are left off the Greek mainland on the island camp of Lesbos, where overcrowding is rife.
Related: Smugglers held Kurdish migrants captive to extort families
He said the silence was anguishing. They grilled the smuggler multiple times, but he kept denying he knew anything.
Hevidar said the smuggler's response to them was not convincing, so they tried other means...
"I tried a lot with him, but it was fruitless until I decided to seize a brother of the smuggler and threatened him. I called the smuggler again, and under pressure he finally revealed that they had died by drowning at sea," he said.
According to the United Nations, more than 1,700 migrants died trying to cross into Europe in 2018.
The now deceased family of Peshmerga Sherzad Abdul Aziz who all drowned in the Aegean Sea in late 2017. Photo: Abdul Aziz family submitted to Rudaw
Many reported stories have included Kurds:
- 34 drown after boat capsizes in Aegean, many victims are Kurds
- Kurdish mother and children drowned in Aegean to be repatriated
- A week on, refugee agency trying to repatriate bodies of Kurds from Turkey
- Nine Iraqi migrants drown off Turkish coast, including 7 children
Peshmerga soldiers are among other groups of the society who leave the Kurdistan Region and trek the dangerous road to try to reach the European Union.
In October last year, a month before Sherzad and his family had left Kurdistan, Issa Abdulrahman, another Peshmerga from Duhok, was traveling with his wife and five children, but they also ended up dying in the Aegean.
Under a deal with the European Union, Turkey has restricted access to Europe from its borders — taking in billions of dollars to shelter the migrants — but many still risk the dangerous voyage.
Smugglers are often blamed for providing small boats without safety equipment which eventually lead to the death of those migrating.
However, they have a conflicting point-of-view.
"Whenever we reach an agreement with somebody to take him to Greece, we explain to them in the first place how risky the road is and tell them that we are not responsible for their life and whatever happens to them on the way," a Kurdish smuggler of 20 years who lives in Turkey told Rudaw.
"Therefore such incidents are normal in our opinion," he said.
“Whenever something wrong happens to their relatives they start to threaten us from Kurdistan,” he said referring to the upset relatives of the deceased.
He explained, many other families like those of Sherzad have drowned in the sea and nobody even knows.
"There are tens of Kurdish families who have drowned at sea and yet their families believe they are alive — waiting for them to return."
As the EU has tightened its immigration policy, many migrants are left off the Greek mainland on the island camp of Lesbos, where overcrowding is rife.
Related: Smugglers held Kurdish migrants captive to extort families
Reporting by Nasr Ali
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