Peregraf
Ahmad’s neighbors drowned in Italian waters while trying to migrate to Europe. Days after their bodies were returned to the Kurdistan Region, he sat flipping through photos of them. It is a scene that has played out thousands of times in Kurdish homes in recent years.
Yet this tragedy and others like it have not deterred Ahmad and his friends from seeking out smugglers to help them make the dangerous journey. He hopes one day to reach the UK.
“I am going to change my life. I think it will change my life materially and spiritually, especially materially,” Ahmad told Peregraf on condition that his real name is not used. “With what I do here, I will make four times as much there.”
As he talked, he looked at pictures of his neighbor Aram, who drowned in the Mediterranean along with his wife and two young daughters in late July. Their bodies were recovered and repatriated back to Erbil on August 2. They were buried in their hometown of Qaladze the next day.
“When I see these events, I am afraid,” he admitted. “There have been times when I have thought: ‘What if I drowned or went missing?’ But at the same time, I said: ‘What if I make it?’When I think about that, my fear disappears.”
He said now that he has made the decision to leave, his biggest fear is not death but failing to make it to Europe.
“I’m afraid that I’ll return without realizing my dream,” he said.
Most informal migrants from the Kurdistan Region go to Turkey first using a tourist visa. They stay there for a short time before smugglers put them on boats bound for Italy. However, success is far from guaranteed.
According to the International Organization for Migration’s(IOM) Missing Migrants Project, 2,048 people died or disappeared while trying to cross the Mediterranean in 2021. This rose to 2,411 people in 2022 and 3,041 people in 2023.
Between 2015 and 2021, 649,273 Iraqi citizens traveled to Europe and claimed asylum, according to the Lutka Agency for Refugee Affairs, a Kurdish migration NGO. At least 296 Iraqi migrants died and 216 went missing during that period.
According to the statistics collected by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), more than 5,000 people have attempted to migrate to European countries during the first seven months of 2024. So far, 43 of those people died along the way. The UK is the primary destination.
Ahmad has already contacted a smuggler and plans to leave the Kurdistan Region with two friends in the next few days.
“I spoke to the smuggler on the phone and decided I might go with the package that costs more, but ensures fewer migrants on the yacht, between 20 and 30 people,” Ahmad said, adding that it will cost approximately $11,000.
Most of the Kurdish smugglers are from Qaladze and Ranya and live in Turkey. They do not reveal themselves to the migrants, but send them to hotels near the departure point for several night before others bring them to the boats.
“People come themselves. Young people and families with their children. We receive dozens of calls daily from Kurdistan asking us to come and bring them when our package is ready,” a Kurdish smuggler told Peregraf on condition of anonymity.
“The road is dangerous. We are trying our best to be safe. No one wants a disaster to happen,” they continued. “If we don't do this, other people will do it, especially Arab smugglers. Therefore, the problem is not us. The people themselves are tired and want to leave Kurdistan anyway.”
The boats frequently break down and get into difficulty. On August 7, a yacht carrying 70 Kurdish migrants began sinking near a Greek island. An NGO alerted the Greek Navy and the passengers were rescued.
Bakr Ali is president of the European Association of Returned Refugees, which raised the alarm about the sinking boat. He told a news conference the next day that 40 of those who were rescued came from the Raparin administration, which includesRanya, Pshdar, and other parts of northern Sulaymaniyah governorate.
He added that 1,200 people have migrated from the area so far this year, or a quarter of the total.
Ali said that the main reason for people wanting to leave Raparin was the lack of jobs for young people in the area. He added that migration has also become somewhat of a “phenomenon.”
“They all know that European countries are not the paradise they think they are,” he said.
Ahmad is from Raparin, but has lived in Sulaymaniyah city for the last two years. He works at a company that installfire suppression sprinklers Several of his friends have already made it to the UK and are eagerly waiting for him to join them.
At the moment, Ahmad makes 900,000 Iraqi dinars per month(about $600 at market rates). Before coming to Sulaymaniyah, he worked 13 hours a day at a women’s accessories shop in Qaladze for 175,000 Iraqi dinars ($173) per month. A friend in Qaladze currently makes just 4,000 Iraqi dinars per day ($2.67).
“I'm going to the UK because my friends are there and the jobs and money are better than in other countries,” he said