ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Some Kurds, who managed to survive after their vessel sank off the Greek coast earlier this month, talk about their experience in the sea. One said all he could see were dead bodies floating. An overloaded migrant fishing boat carrying at least 750 people sank off Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula on June 14. The Greek coast guard has rescued around 100 survivors from the sea while 82 people have been confirmed dead. The boat reportedly was traveling from Libya to Italy before capsizing. At least eleven Kurds from Kobane, northeast Syria (Rojava) were onboard, some survivors told Rudaw. “We were 11 [from Kobane]. One was my brother, the others were the son of my sister, cousin and a co-villager. Two were my friends,” Ali, one of the survivors, told Rudaw’s Zinar Shino on Wednesday. “When the boat sank at 2am, I was pushed to a place far from them. I did not immediately know if they were dead or alive because it was dark,” he added. He said that the boat suffered from some technical issues. The Kurdish man also said that they want their dead relatives and friends to be identified, blaming Greek authorities for not helping in this regard. Khalid is another Kurdish survivor. “Ali and I, as well as five other young people, left Kobane for Libya in March. We stayed in Lebanon for a couple of months before setting out to Libya. Then we came here via a boat,” he told Rudaw. He noted that two women and some children were in the boat as well. “I stayed in the water for two hours and saw many people floating,” he said. Global organizations such as International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) called for “urgent and decisive action” in order to prevent future incidents from occurring. According to Greek media, nine people have been arrested on suspicion of people trafficking, including several Egyptians. Due to the unsettling condition in their home countries, migrants opt to take the arduous and dangerous journey through the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. A large number of those fleeing poverty and war cross from Africa and the Middle East via Italy in hopes of a better life on the European continent.
