Iraqi Kurdish family mourns the death of a man who crashed the Channel | Migration Issues

In a small house in northeastern Iraq, the parents of Maryam Nuri Hama Amin, 24, are mourning the death of their daughter who drowned while trying to find a friend in the United Kingdom.

“He wanted a better life,” said his father, Nuri Hama Amin, shaking with fear, just days after his daughter disappeared in the cold Channel waters between France and England.

“But he would end up in the ocean.”

Maryam – “Baran” to her family, a name meaning “rain” in Kurdish – was one of 27 people killed Wednesday when their airless boat sank off the French port of Calais. He is the first to be known.

On Sunday, his family visited Baran in Soran, a town north of Kurdish, about 3,700km (2,300 miles) from where he died. His body has not arrived in Iraq, pending the outcome of legal proceedings, relatives said.

“We have no information about smugglers,” his father said, speaking from his home. Their promises proved to be false.

Maryam was eager to reunite with her friend, Karzan, who was also from the area, but who had settled in the UK.

Karzan made several attempts to obtain a visa, but to no avail.

“The process is dangerous. My daughter was dating and she wanted to be with her boyfriend. He chose Britain because it is a safe, secure place. “People go there to find better opportunities but the tragedy of God did not happen,” his father told British Sky News.

“He drowned in the sea and died before he reached it.”

Grief-stricken

Karzan was on the phone with him as he was traveling on dangerous water from France – and he was the one who called a family in Iraq to tell them he was dead, his cousin, Kafan Omar, said.

Shortly before he left France, his father talked with him on the phone for hours.

“She was so happy, she was so relaxed,” he said. He was in a hotel in France, we talked until 8 o’clock in the morning.

Iraqi Kurdish Nuri Hama Amin, Maryam’s father, received a word of comfort in Soran, Iraq [Safin Hamed/AFP]

Since the shipwreck, the bodies of the passengers have been kept in a morgue in France. By law, nothing has been published about the information by the countries of 17 men, seven women and three children.

At Maryam’s home, however, about 100 relatives gathered to apologize for her death.

On Saturday, many men, mostly in Kurdish clothes, sat and prayed.

Nearby, under the tabernacle, women in black robes were weeping. Maryam’s mother was so upset that she did not speak.

Father attends funeral of Maryam Nuri Hama Amin in Kurdish town of Soran, Iraq [Safin Hamed/AFP]

‘dreams’

Maryam’s family described her as intelligent, efficient, and determined. She wanted to work in cosmetology.

In Maryam’s room, above the bed, two pictures show the girl and her boyfriend dating. The photo shows her wearing a traditional embroidered dress with ornaments, and a tiara on top of the top hair. On her bed are many white flowers.

Women standing in the bedroom of Kurd Maryam Nuri Hama Amin of Iraq [Safin Hamed/AFP]

Baran’s cousin described Maryam’s relationship with her friend as “lovebirds”.

“They loved each other, they respected each other very much,” Iman Hassan said, speaking to Sky News from Soran.

His cousin, Kafan Omar, said he left home about a month ago.

He states: “He obtained a visa for a job and traveled to Italy, then to France. “We tried several times to send him to Britain to reunite with his friend, but to no avail.”

Maryam was just one of thousands of expectant young women in the area who had left their homeland in recent months.

Many insisted on crossing the border with Belarus to cross into Poland and the European Union. Some have returned from a flight back home, experiencing extreme cold.

Many say they have wasted their money, sold valuables and taken on loans to escape the financial crisis in Iraq and start a new life.

Pictures and flowers have been placed in the bedroom of Maryam Nuri Hama Amin during a mourning ceremony in Soran, Iraq. [Safin Hamed/AFP]

Kermaj Ezzat, a close relative of the couple, said young people in the area are leaving mainly because of “instability”. He criticized policies that hampered their travels.

“These countries have closed their borders to young people who dream of a better future,” he said.

Maryam’s father delivered a message for some who wanted to head west.

“I urge the youth not to leave and endure the difficulties that are here, instead of risking their lives to come to Europe,” he pleaded.