Kurdish migrant dies en route to Europe

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Dilan Yousif, her husband and their four-year-old daughter commenced their journey from the Kurdistan Region to Europe in search of medical help. 

Soon, her body lay in a coffin on its way back to her home.

Long journeys and dangerous conditions have made cases like Dilan’s, a twenty-five-year-old from Erbil, no rarity for migrants leaving the Kurdistan Region.

A recent, ongoing migration wave has led thousands of Kurdish migrants on costly, often dangerous journeys away from their homes. Many leave the Region in search of opportunity away from corruption, political tension and instability that has pushed away many young people with low hopes for the future. 

Yousif’s husband, Hoshang Ayub, 32, told Rudaw on Thursday that his wife drowned as a result of their vessel’s wreck, which he said occurred early Thursday morning. 

He and his family were part of a group of 12 people, which he said included Kurds from northwestern Iran (Rojhelat), the Kurdistan Region and northeast Syria (Rojava). They sailed from Izmir to Didim, Turkey, to join a larger vessel before the incident occurred. 

“I was holding my daughter,” Ayub said. “I called my wife several times, and she said she was fine. We survived, but I didn't see her. I later learned that she drowned.”

Sherzad Habib, Yousif’s uncle, said the couple hoped to find treatment for their four-year-old daughter’s blood disorder in Europe. 

“The Kurdistan Regional Government did not provide them with assistance,” he said. 

Reporting by Bahroz Faraidun

Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed