ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A boat carrying around 20 Kurds from Sulaimani province is leaking in the English Channel, a relative of some of the passengers told Rudaw on Sunday. Hours later an activist said the French police rescued the asylum seekers.
“My brother, along with his wife and child, is on the boat and is asking for help,” said Bestoon Abdullah, adding, “Until around 10:30 am today, the migrants had an internet connection and were sending messages, but now their connection is gone.”
Abdullah said that there are more than 20 Kurds stranded on the boat, and most of them are from Sulaimani's Raparin administration.
“Our ship is close; our boat has been punctured. We have been pumping air into it since last night as it is losing air and leaking,” one of the asylum seekers on the boat was heard saying in an audio message Abdullah shared with Rudaw.
Ranj Pishdari, a migration activist in Europe, told Rudaw that the people on board still do not have internet.
“I have spoken with the French police, who asked for the location of the incident to help them because it is a broad area. However, they [migrants] do not have internet access; therefore, they have not sent their location until now,” stated the activist.
Hours later, Pishdari said that the French police had rescued the migrants, adding that the total number of people on board was 69.
Every year, tens of thousands of people from the Middle East seek to escape endless crises of lack of employment, political instability, and corruption by joining thousands of others from scores of countries taking perilous routes to Europe.
Updated at 01:12 pm
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