Athens – Damascus – continued

Publication date: June 18, 2023 10:41 pm Saudi Arabia.

The Tragic Fate of Migrants on Board a Sinking Boat

The chances of finding survivors dwindled after a boatload of migrants carrying between 400 and 750 people, including 141 Syrians, sank off the Greek coast on June 14, according to survivors of the humanitarian disaster.

Hopeless Wait for Families in Syria

In several regions of Syria, families eagerly await news of their children, including wartime boys who hoped for a better life in Europe, but their fate was cut short off the southern coast of Greece. The Greek Coast Guard was only able to locate 78 bodies, although hundreds are estimated to be missing. More than 141 Syrians were on board the ill-fated boat, most of whom are still missing, according to activists and families told Agence France-Presse.

One Father’s Anguish

Among them is Ali (19), who hails from the city of Jasem in the province of Dar’a in southern Syria, the province that accounts for the highest proportion of Syrian casualties and missing persons. His father Iyad, who chose not to give his last name, told AFP by phone: “I have no news of my son, I have not spoken to him or heard his voice.” He added: “I heard my son’s name from a Greek reporter on one of the sites. Once I mentioned him in the list of survivors, and again in the list of drowned.”

Missing and Survivors from Daraa

In Daraa alone, the Daraa Martyrs Records Office documented 72 missing and 34 survivors from the south of the country based on interviews with passengers’ families. Since it was taken over by government forces in 2018, Daraa has been engulfed in chaos with security, and its inhabitants, like all Syrian regions, are suffering from an economic crisis resulting from a bloody conflict that has been ongoing since 2011. Since then, activists say, many young people have left the province in search of a better life away from the war and its deteriorating effects on life and security.

Other Syrian Passengers

Also among the Syrian passengers were 35 people from the city of Kobani, one of the most prominent cities under the control of the Kurdish Autonomous Administration in northern and northeastern Syria, according to a brother of one of the survivors told Agence France-Presse. which indicates that only five of them are still extant.