Iranian Kurdish couple drowns in a river in Greece

“We didn't know the region and it was dark.”
A Kurdish couple from Iranian Kurdistan died last Thursday in Greece (Photo: Hengaw)
A Kurdish couple from Iranian Kurdistan died last Thursday in Greece (Photo: Hengaw)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Kurdish couple from Marivan in Iran’s northwestern Kurdistan province lost their lives after drowning in a river in Greece on Jan. 13, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported on Friday.

The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights identified the couple Jalil Rawangard, 34, and Sumaya Jamkhana, 28. Their bodies were found on Thursday.

On his social media, Rawangard identified himself as a Kurdish political activist. 

“Last evening we left Thessaloniki and headed towards Athens. We didn't know the region and it was dark. As a result of tiredness and disorientation, my sister was swept away by a river,” Somaya's 15-year-old brother Abdollah Jamkhana, who was also with them, told Hengaw.

“My brother-in-law ran after her and was also carried away,” he said. “They both died. Djalil's body was found a few hours later and my sister's body the next day.”

Abdollah Jamkhana was arrested by the Greek police after the accident.

Read More: Iranian Kurdish asylum-seeker drowns after boat sinks near Greek islands

Greece is one of the main routes to the European Union for refugees and migrants seeking to escape war and hardship in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Most of them sail on overcrowded rubber boats to islands near the Turkish coast.

Among them are many Iranian Kurds fleeing difficult living conditions in Iran.

According to data from Hengaw, at least ten refugees from Iranian Kurdistan have died fleeing to Europe since spring 2021.