Reports | 25 05 2020
Syrians trying to travel to Europe are escaping prosecution, bombardments, and the fighting in their country, to face death, and exploitation of smugglers in their dangerous journey.
Seven failed attempts, has made Amer more determined on achieving his dream to reach Europe. His very bad luck didn’t stop him from trying over and over again and sticking to his last chance to reach a safe life, via the death boats that carries immigrants from the Turkish coasts.
Amer confirms, “I didn’t have any other choice, either I get on the rubber dinghies or go back to Syria. I have drowned so many times with many other immigrants, and I have witnessed with my own eyes when they drowned and died. If I wasn’t good at swimming, I would’ve been died by now.” He also adds, “every time the dinghy boat capsizes, the Turkish Gendarmerie save us and take us back to Izmir. After that I go back to the smuggler to get my money back, and try again.”
Day after day, trip after trip, 18-year-old Amer became an expert with everything related to the smuggling market in Izmir. However, that didn’t protect him from getting ripped off by one of the smugglers for $2,500 to be on a tourist yacht, which, according to him, made him “super broke.” He didn’t give up, he got on the dinghy boat again, but this time he was the driver of the boat; the driver of the boat doesn’t pay money for the smugglers, and because of his experience- he made it to Greece.
The one who suffers.. lives!
Despite all the danger, the path of hope shouldn’t be limited by fears. Abu Mahmoud’s family, a family of 9, decided to try reaching the Greek coasts again. After they’ve drowned with 30 other people during one of the death journeys, the Turkish Gendarmerie saved them and arrested them for three days, then returned them back to Izmir.
At that time, the family headed to the hotel where the smuggler who they agreed with was staying in order to get back their $12,000. With that regard, Mahmoud says, “We made a mistake by not placing the money with an insurance company, we tried so many times to get our money back from a smuggler called “Abu Noor”, but he kept stalling until we became homeless. We had to kidnap his niece to pressure him to pay us back, but that didn’t work out. We lost our money.”
Abu Mahmoud’s family didn’t succeed to reach Greece, until Abu Mahmoud worked as a broker for one of the smugglers. After he lost all his money, he was then able to smuggle all his family for free one by one.
Mohmoud says, “My father didn’t have any other choice. He went to the market and worked as a broker and sent us in the dinghy boat one at a time. What do we do….this is life.”
From the Bed to the Yacht
Many of the stories about Syrians and what happened to them came from Izmir, which was the first crossing station to Europe. They have faced very tough conditions including the danger of smugglers.
After quitting being a smuggling broker to Europe, Wassim told us about the reasons for staying away. The bad treatment of smugglers towards immigrants in Izmir was one of those reasons.
Wassim explains, “when a smuggler gets annoyed by “a nagging customer” who keeps nagging and asking about the timing of the journey, the smuggler would send him a taxi late at night and tell him that it’s time for the journey. The smuggler then calls the Turkish Police to tell about him, then the police would arrest him for 3 days, he gets out upset and angry.”
The bad treatment doesn’t only stop there, but it goes beyond that to exploiting Syrian female immigrants sexually, because they don’t have enough money to be on the dinghy boat, as indicated by Wassim. He explains it in this sentence: “from the bed to the yacht.” He continues, “I knew a mother and her daughter in Izmir very well, they were subjected to fraud by one of the smugglers and due to that, they lost everything they had. Another smuggler has exploited them sexually in his hotel room promising them to get them to Greece for free. It turned out he was lying to them and deceived them--it’s heart breaking.
According to a report issued by Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, the number of missing and drowned persons in the Mediterranean Sea while they on their way to Europe has reached 2824 people from the beginning of 2015 until the end of August.
380,000 people reached Europe during the first 8 months of last year, both refugees and asylum-seekers. Most of them reached through the Mediterranean Sea to Italy and Greece, while others reached through Turkish-Bulgarian borders, and others reached Spain through the Sea as well.