Smugglers blame overloading boats for migration route tragedies
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Although the boats can only carry no more than 12 people, they are often loaded with up to 100 migrants and hundreds of kilos of gas, water, and food, said one of the smugglers working the treacherous paths, stressing that despite the recent tragedies, people are still ringing him up to be on the next boat out of the country out of frustration for their current state.
Twin shipwrecks off the coasts of Italy’s Roccella Ionica and Lampedusa in June left more than 70 migrants dead and missing. Most of the passengers were Kurds from the Kurdistan Region and Iran’s western Kurdish areas, as well as people from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, and Syria.
Aram had previously attempted to take on the perilous journey twice, but circumstances and technical issues would prevent the boats from sailing on both occasions. Frustrated, he decided to try his luck one more time, despite the smugglers advising him not to do so.
“He was supposed to go on my friend’s yacht, but my friend said ‘Wallahi I will not take him.’ I asked him why, and he said ‘because his wife is pregnant,’” a smuggler, who knew Aram closely, told Rudaw on condition of anonymity.
“He [Aram] said ‘I swear I am not returning, even if I know I’m dying. I have to leave tonight,’” recounted the smuggler, before making arrangements to send Aram on another boat that was also sailing that night.
“I called him and said ‘dear Aram, there is another one that is leaving.’ He said ‘please get me on it, Kak Hajji. Let me go so I can be relieved. My wife does not have much time left [before giving birth].”
The boat that Aram boarded set off from Turkey’s Bodrum that night, but would meet a gnarly fate hours later, capsizing off the Italian coast. Aram, his pregnant wife, and their two young daughters died in the shipwreck.
The smuggler had charged 8,300 dollars from Aram for the arrangements.
“I did not get his ‘ok’ that night, because Aram was like my brother and I had given the ‘ok’ on his behalf… The yacht was not bad, but the small refrigerator, which they use to store food, had exploded. Things like this may happen only one percent of the time,” said the smuggler.
Even though the treacherous path has brought tragedy to thousands of families, people are still lining up to take the journey, desperately seeking a better life abroad.
“I swear, in recent days, I have received about 20 phone calls after the incident… The people do not care. They are frustrated,” he noted.
Another smuggler, a close friend of the owner of the capsized boat, said that the price range depends on the amount of people who are seeking to migrate around a specific time: The higher the demand, the higher the prices.
“If a lot of people want to go, it could go up to 12,000 and 13,000 dollars. If there are less people, it is between 8,000 and 9,000 dollars,” said the smuggler, speaking on condition of anonymity, “those in charge of collecting the people take 1,000 to 1,500 dollars for themselves, and give the remainder to those who take them.”
“The yachts only have capacity for eight to 12 people. The most is 12 people. But they are usually loaded with 50 to 100 people… The yachts weigh at most 10 to 12 tons, but the weight of the people, water, food, and gas [onboard] is more than 15 tons,” he added.
Tens of thousands of people from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region take on perilous routes out of the country towards Europe on a yearly basis in hopes of escaping the endless crises in the country, including the lack of employment, political instability, and corruption.
Over 750,000 people have migrated out of the country since 2015, according to 2023 data from Lutka, also recording at least 319 migrant deaths during that period, and adding that the whereabouts of 236 others remain unknown.
Twin shipwrecks off the coasts of Italy’s Roccella Ionica and Lampedusa in June left more than 70 migrants dead and missing. Most of the passengers were Kurds from the Kurdistan Region and Iran’s western Kurdish areas, as well as people from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, and Syria.
Aram had previously attempted to take on the perilous journey twice, but circumstances and technical issues would prevent the boats from sailing on both occasions. Frustrated, he decided to try his luck one more time, despite the smugglers advising him not to do so.
“He was supposed to go on my friend’s yacht, but my friend said ‘Wallahi I will not take him.’ I asked him why, and he said ‘because his wife is pregnant,’” a smuggler, who knew Aram closely, told Rudaw on condition of anonymity.
“He [Aram] said ‘I swear I am not returning, even if I know I’m dying. I have to leave tonight,’” recounted the smuggler, before making arrangements to send Aram on another boat that was also sailing that night.
“I called him and said ‘dear Aram, there is another one that is leaving.’ He said ‘please get me on it, Kak Hajji. Let me go so I can be relieved. My wife does not have much time left [before giving birth].”
The boat that Aram boarded set off from Turkey’s Bodrum that night, but would meet a gnarly fate hours later, capsizing off the Italian coast. Aram, his pregnant wife, and their two young daughters died in the shipwreck.
The smuggler had charged 8,300 dollars from Aram for the arrangements.
“I did not get his ‘ok’ that night, because Aram was like my brother and I had given the ‘ok’ on his behalf… The yacht was not bad, but the small refrigerator, which they use to store food, had exploded. Things like this may happen only one percent of the time,” said the smuggler.
Even though the treacherous path has brought tragedy to thousands of families, people are still lining up to take the journey, desperately seeking a better life abroad.
“I swear, in recent days, I have received about 20 phone calls after the incident… The people do not care. They are frustrated,” he noted.
Another smuggler, a close friend of the owner of the capsized boat, said that the price range depends on the amount of people who are seeking to migrate around a specific time: The higher the demand, the higher the prices.
“If a lot of people want to go, it could go up to 12,000 and 13,000 dollars. If there are less people, it is between 8,000 and 9,000 dollars,” said the smuggler, speaking on condition of anonymity, “those in charge of collecting the people take 1,000 to 1,500 dollars for themselves, and give the remainder to those who take them.”
“The yachts only have capacity for eight to 12 people. The most is 12 people. But they are usually loaded with 50 to 100 people… The yachts weigh at most 10 to 12 tons, but the weight of the people, water, food, and gas [onboard] is more than 15 tons,” he added.
Tens of thousands of people from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region take on perilous routes out of the country towards Europe on a yearly basis in hopes of escaping the endless crises in the country, including the lack of employment, political instability, and corruption.
Over 750,000 people have migrated out of the country since 2015, according to 2023 data from Lutka, also recording at least 319 migrant deaths during that period, and adding that the whereabouts of 236 others remain unknown.