Kurds drowned in Aegean Sea returned home

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Twenty-five bodies of Kurdish refugees who drowned in the Aegean Sea were repatriated to the Kurdistan Region through Erbil International Airport (EIA) on Saturday.

Last month, many Kurds tried to enter Europe via the Aegean Sea seeking refuge, but their boat sank, and most of them were found dead.

“Nineteen victims are from Sulaimani Province, and the rest are from Erbil, the Regional capital,” Ari Jalal, the head of the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR) branch in the Kurdistan Region told K24.

Jalal stated that there was no information about the other 12  Kurds who were in the same boat.

“The bodies of two refugees could not be identified,” he added.

Last month, 24 more bodies of people who drowned in the Aegean Sea were returned to the Kurdistan Region.

Due to the Islamic State (IS) war and financial crisis in the Region and Iraq, many Kurds have fled to Turkey to find a corridor into Europe. However, a large number of them drowned in the boats while trying to pass the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece.

According to IFIR, in January alone, more than 134 people from the Kurdistan Region were found dead after they tried to voyage illegally from Turkey to Europe.

Reporting by Mewan Dolamari
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany and Ava Homa