The bodies of 16 Iraqi Kurds, victims of a shipwreck in the English Channel, repatriated

A photo taken in Soran, in northern Iraq, in the bedroom of Maryam Nuri Hama Amin, one of the victims of the sinking of November 24, 2021. Safin HAMED AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

It was November 24, a little over a month ago: 27 people were killed in a shipwreck in the English Channel.

They were trying to reach the United Kingdom from the French coast.

Among them were 16 Kurds from Iraq.

After a long wait for the families, the bodies of the victims were repatriated that night.  

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At two in the morning, a plane lands on the runway at Erbil airport in Iraq.

On board, the bodies of 16 victims, ten men, four women, a teenager and a child.

She was seven years old. 

In the terminal, there are dozens of relatives.

For some, they have been waiting for this flight, which has already been postponed twice, for almost 48 hours. 

Upon exiting the plane, the ambulances load the coffins and set off for Darbandikhan, Ranya, Soran and Qadrawa.

It is there, in their towns of origin, that the victims will be buried.  

But before mourning, several questions remain for the families

, and in particular on these appeals for help that the migrants would have made to the French and English authorities. 

One of the survivors said they were left unanswered. 

" 

", replies on the French side the prefecture of Manche.

French justice could in any case be brought to rule.

Last week, 

for “

 ” and “ 

 ” against the prefect and those responsible for French and British relief. 

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