Iranian Kurdish asylum-seeker drowns after boat sinks near Greek islands
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An Iranian Kurdish woman was among a group of asylum-seekers who drowned when their boat sank off the Greek Coast near the island of Crete last week, a rights group has confirmed.
Monira Heydari was one of 45 people on the boat when it sank on Thursday. The Greek Coast Guard rescued 37 people, but Heydari, originally from Zardoi village in Pavah city and lately a resident of Kermanshah, was among eight who were not pulled from the water.
Seven of those eight were reported to be from the Kurdistan Region.
AFP earlier reported that 37 people, mostly from Syria and Iraq, were picked up in poor weather conditions when the boat went down in international waters.
Jila Mostajer, manager of the rights group Hengaw, told Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday that Heydari was the only missing person from Iranian Kurdistan. “Eyewitnesses informed us that they had seen her falling off the boat and they were unable to do anything to save her. They confirmed that Monira had drowned,” she said.
Mostajer said many asylum-seekers risk their lives by traveling through Turkey and then to Europe, facing “a potential risk of losing their lives, being taken hostage, or losing all the money they have to survive the trip.”
She added that Kurds in Iran are under “such an enormous pressure at home that they prefer taking all the risks over staying in Iran.”
“They are escaping from extreme poverty, unemployment, and lack of security,” she said. “With all these unfavorable situations, they have not been able to go to college and find a legal path for migration to other stable countries. Many others escape Iran through illegal routes to save their lives as they are under threat in the country.”
Due to the war with ISIS and the years-long financial crisis, Kurds from the Kurdistan Region have also gone to Turkey in hopes of getting to Europe.
A significant number of them have drowned while trying to cross the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, often in makeshift boats ill-equipped to safely transport them. The Kurdistan Region has in the past aided with the repatriation of their bodies.