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'Back to me in a coffin' - bodies of migrants drowned in Channel reach Iraq

December 26, 2021 at 12:49 pm

A young girl is held by a member of the border force at Dover Marina after being rescued in the English Channel by the RNLI on September 07, 2020 in Dover, England [Christopher Furlong / Getty Images]

At least 16 bodies of Iraqi Kurdish migrants who drowned in November when their dinghy deflated while they tried to cross the English Channel were returned on Sunday to Iraqi Kurdistan, reported Reuters.

The November 24 disaster, in which 27 migrants died, was the worst on record involving migrants trying to cross the Channel to Britain from France.

The plane carrying the bodies landed on early Sunday in the airport of Erbil, capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region. Ambulances then took the coffins to the home towns of those who died.

“The last time I heard my son’s voice was when he got on board the boat. He said ‘Don’t worry Mum, I will reach England shortly.’ Now he’s back to me in a coffin,” said Shukriya Bakir, whose son was one of those who drowned.

Read: Channel will swallow more migrants heading for Britain, charities say

In the past decade, hundreds of thousands of people have slipped into the wealthy economies of Western Europe with the help of smugglers, fleeing conflict, persecution and poverty on epic journeys from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan and elsewhere. Few are welcomed.

Iraq is no longer at war since the defeat of Daesh in 2017. But a lack of opportunities and basic services, as well as a political system most Iraqis say is corrupt and nepotistic, mean many people see little chance of a decent life at home.

Read: EU spending millions on surveillance technology to turn refugees back