Two Syrian brides dreamed of Germany.. they were swallowed up by the sea off Lebanon

Hiam Saadoun holds a picture of her daughter Inas

In a remote village in northeastern Syria, crying Shawafa Khader refuses to believe that the sea swallowed her daughter Janda, who was among dozens who chose to reach Europe by boat from northern Lebanon.

"My child, my spoiled daughter, will remain, and I will wait for her every night and pray to the Lord of the worlds that she is in peace and in a safe place," the woman told AFP while sitting in her home in the village of Patarzan, in Kurdish.

Although her daughter is missing, Shawafa (60 years old) refuses to hold a funeral, and even expelled her son from the house when he suggested surrendering to the fait accompli and accepting the death of his sister by drowning.

"She may have been lost on a beach," adds the woman, whose sad face has wrinkled.

Several weeks ago, Janda Saeed (27 years) and Enas Abdel Salam (23 years) left Syria for Lebanon, where they boarded a boat they hoped would bring them to Europe, to meet their fiancés in Germany and complete their marriage transactions with the two brothers.

But the trip, which took off on the night of April 23, soon ended with the boat sinking while trying to arrest it by the Lebanese army off the coast of Tripoli in the north.

According to the United Nations, 84 people were on the boat, 45 of whom were rescued, 11 of them Syrians, while only eight bodies were found.

About forty people are still missing, eight of them are Syrians, including Janda and Enas.

Every time she looks at a picture of her daughter showing her braids in a white and red sweater, Shawafa starts crying.

The grieving mother recalls the last hours with Ganda, repeating: "Oh, mom, ah, mom."

"My daughter carried in her bag and my scarf to accompany my scent and protection," she says.

Shawafa bid her farewell to her daughter on the eve of her travels by holding a henna party for her, which is an inherited tradition for the bride who wears a red dress, in the presence of her friends, during which her hands are decorated with henna.

Unlike Shawafa, Hiyam Saadoun, 42, accepted fate and agreed, after a long wait, to hold a funeral for her daughter, Inas, and all her hope today is to find her body.

Inside the mourning tent in the city of Qamishli (northeast), Hiam holds a picture of her daughter, the bride, telling AFP: "My daughter was happy with her engagement (...) I wished to see her in her wedding dress."

She added, "I used to imagine her at home with her children and family...but today I hope that her wedding will be in heaven."

Longing squeezed Hiam's heart, especially since her daughter had always told her that she would not return to Syria.” But the bereaved mother never expected her daughter to meet this fate.

Hiam wipes her daughter's picture with her hands.

"She was looking for a better life in Europe, like many who have traveled before her," she says. "She used to tell me sometimes I feel that if I go I will never come back."

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