Kurdish city in Iran grieves for loved ones dying on the road to Europe

SARDASHT, Iran — Mehri Nabizadeh and her husband Sardar Ibrahim Nazhad had enough of a life of poverty with no income, which is why in the summer of 2018, although they had no savings, they made the difficult decision to emigrate abroad.

They left the city of Sardasht for Turkey after borrowing about $200 from Mehri’s sister, not knowing this would be a one-way ticket to the beginning of a life of hardship. 

An important issue over the last five years in Sardasht, where 120,000 people live on the Kurdistan Region’s border, is mass migration of youth to Europe.

Sardasht is in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province.
 
Although there are no official numbers on emigration, migration in Sardasht has seen an increase in comparison to other cities in Kurdish areas of Iran (Rojhelat), especially after the closure of borders and economic inflation in Iran. 

The deaths of Sardasht natives on the migration route, due to various reasons, have worried people in Rojhelat. 

In the latest incident, on June 14, Mehri Nabizadeh left Turkey heading for Greece with her husband and her daughters, aged four and six. Suffering from a heart condition, Mehri died along the way, likely due to exhaustion from the journey.  

Mehri’s siblings, sitting at a memorial for their sister in a humble home in Ashti Street in Sardasht, are asking for help to return their sister’s body to their home. 

“Mehri and Sardar were renting [a home] here, their financial situation was really bad, especially in the years of crisis and economic inflation that made their lives difficult,” Beri Nabizadeh, Mehri’s 36-years-old sister, told Rudaw English. Her eyes were red from crying. “My sister told me, ‘we want to leave for Europe so we can get out of this bad situation.’”

“Although I disagreed, I hoped they would reach a safe area, they didn’t even have the money to get to Turkey. That’s why I gave them five million toman (about $200) and they left Sardasht in the spring of 2018. I was with them until they took the bus from Urmia. I was very worried because she was the only sister I had.”

“I was in touch with them while they were in Turkey too. In the last three years, Sardar was doing construction labor but he only made enough for their expenses, they didn’t have any savings,” Beri explained. “A few days before leaving, Mehri told me, ‘we have decided to walk to Greece with some other people.’ I was in touch with them over WhatsApp, I was constantly praying for them. They would walk at night and rest during the day.”

“It was Monday afternoon, I was talking to Sardar, he told me ‘Mehri is not doing very well, she can’t talk,’ I kept saying I have to talk to her. Her voice was so hoarse and I could barely understand her and there was nothing we could do.”

“It was 5 PM, Mehri’s oldest daughter called me on WhatsApp and I was happy. I said, they’ve probably reached their destination and want to tell me the good news but she told me, ‘Auntie, my mom has died.’”

Bakhtyar Nabizadeh, the oldest of the siblings at 40, continued. “My sister lost her life on that difficult road like dozens of others. My mother also passed away grieving for Mehri. Our pain has reached its peak.”

“Our only request is assisting us in getting back the body of our sister Mehri, so that our wounds are healed a bit,” Bakhtyar said. “A faraway grave is terrible, our pain is ten times worse now. We are a poor family and can’t provide for the expense of returning her body but we are asking the relevant authorities and people from charities to help us return the body.”

Mukhtar Nabizadeh, another of Mehri’s brothers, said, “Besides this hardship, the fate of my sister’s children weighs more heavily on our shoulders. They are stuck in a foreign country. We are asking the responsible refugee authorities to assist in helping these two children.”

In Sardasht’s cemetery in the west of the city, many people have been laid to rest who lost their lives trying to reach Europe. The best-known story is about the four bodies of a family of five who drowned in the English Channel on October 27. The body of the youngest in the family, Artin Iran Nejad, was later found in Karmoy, Norway. 

Zainab Ibrahimi was a friend of Shiva Mohammed Panahi, Artin’s mother. Sitting solemnly by her friend’s grave, she told Rudaw English, “I am very sad for Shiva, I still dream of her. Everyone is following one another these past few years in Sardasht. Without knowing how dangerous it is, they step into that risky path.”

In the upper part of Sardasht Cemetery is Sirwan Ibrahimi’s grave. He lost his life four months ago on the route to Britain from France. 

Sherko Ibrahimzadeh, a friend of Sirwan’s, told Rudaw English, “Sirwan’s family was very poor. They had six daughters and a son. Two of his sisters had cancer. That’s why people collected $10,000 for Sirwan so that he could leave and escape this poverty. But he died in a car accident between France and Britain.” 

“The main reason why the situation is like this, is the unemployment and the wave of crises in Iran and Kurdistan, especially in Sardasht,” Ibrahimzadeh said.
 
“Because in the previous years, there were many border crossings like in Ashkan and Qasma Rash where people were working. But now there is no source of income.”

Sardasht residents also know of those whose bodies have not been returned when they died en route to Europe. 

Shorsh Abubakri, a civil activist from Sardasht, says, “Due to the economic inflation, the price of housing is so expensive. This has forced people to think of other options. The lack of employment and the closure of borders have been the cause for mass migration of people from this region to Europe.”

“In the last four years, Sardasht has become the main migration side to Europe from Rojhelat,” Abubakri added. “Although there is no actual data on those who have left Sardasht, someone who has lived in Sardasht feels the streets are not as crowded as they once were. They have been emptied and most people have migrated to the west.”