Ibrahim has taken us to the British port city of Dover. He will show us the place where he first landed in Britain. He did not come here with the many ferries that go in shuttle traffic across the English Channel, but in an inflatable boat full of refugees. He has not been by the sea since he came ashore here almost a year ago. Bad memories come back.
– Ibrahim took us to Dover, where he landed in Britain. Photo: Halkawt Mustafa
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– You get back the same feeling as when you were about to drown. You get the feeling that the sea is pulling you towards it. Right now I have this feeling, says Ibrahim when we come down to the beach in Dover.
The fear is still there after the first time Ibrahim tried to cross the canal.
– Honestly, now I’m scared! I feel calm now, if there were a lot of waves, I could not stand here, says Ibrahim.
Had a bad feeling and was scared
But waves and bad weather it October 27 last year. Still, a fully loaded, small pleasure boat left the beach in France.
– There were 22 people on board such a boat, says Ibrahim and points to a leisure boat of 22-23 feet which is located in the port of Dover.
– Mamma Shiwa with youngest son Artin and siblings Anita and Armin. Photo: Private
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– Dad Rasool with Artin and siblings Anita and Armin. Photo: Private
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On board the boat were also one-year-old Artin and his family, dad Rasool (36), mom Shiwa (33), and his two siblings Anita (9) and Armin (6). The family had, like Ibrahim, traveled from their hometown of Sardasht in Iran in the hope of creating a better life in Britain. That day they were to complete the last stage of the long and perilous journey.
– I looked a lot at the little boy, and thought that I hope that nothing happens. But I had a bad feeling, I was scared. Deep down, I knew what we were doing was wrong, Ibrahim tells us.
And Ibrahim was right. After a short time, the fully loaded boat got into trouble in the waves. The boat began to take in water, and the man driving the boat decided to turn around and return. That was when it went wrong.
– He tried to turn the boat towards France. Then a wave hit the boat and it capsized, and that was it. Most of them fell into the sea, and the current took them in different directions, says Ibrahim.
Was trapped in the air pocket under the boat
But little Artin and his family were caught under the boat. They had been sitting inside a superstructure, and were dragged under when the boat went around.
– The family, was under the boat inside a superstructure. There was air there and they were still alive. We heard the children crying, and we knocked on the boat and said to them: do not be afraid, do not be afraid, we are up here and it will work out, take it easy. Two or three times we knocked on the hull so that they would know we were there and not panic.
The accident happened shortly after they left France. Ibrahim, and the others who clung to the boat, could see buildings on the French side of the canal where they lay in the icy water.
– We shouted please help us! We’re dying! We could not say it in English, so we shouted in Kurdish and Persian, the only languages we could, Ibrahim says, crying.
Tried to save the sister
After a while, a boat shows up. The crew alerted the French Coast Guard and the rescue service. But before they came to the rescue, another boat also appeared. The crew began to help them up from the sea.
– Ibrahim held Anita (9)’s hand and tried to save her, but she too drowned. Photo: Private
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Ibrahim was the last to get on board the boat. With him was Artin’s sister, 9-year-old Anita, whom he had tried to rescue.
– I remember she was wearing a red jacket. I held her hand when I was taken on board the boat. They thought I only had a red jacket with me on board. They were shocked when they realized it was a dead child I had in my arms.
Artin’s entire family died that day. The little boy was first found three months after the accident, when he floated ashore in Skudeneshavn on Karmøy.
– In this coverall, the remains of Artin were found on New Year’s Day outside Skudeneshavn Photo: Police
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The second time, Ibrahim reached the goal
Although Ibrahim had seen an entire family disappear into the sea, he made only a few days after another attempt to cross the English Channel.
He says that he had been threatened with death by the human traffickers, who had sent them out when things went wrong.
– I had to do it. There was no other way out. If I stay, the smuggler will kill me. The risk was 50/50 to survive if I tried to cross to the other side, says Ibrahim.
The second time, he and those on board the boat were picked up by the Coast Guard as they reached British waters.
Still feel he is on the run
Today, Ibrahim has soon been a year in London, he is waiting for an answer on whether he will stay or whether he will be thrown out again. Even though he reached the goal, he feels that he is still on the run.
– Today Ibrahim lives in London and is waiting to be told if he can stay in the UK. Photo: Halkawt Mustafa / TV 2
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– I feel like I’m still sitting in the boat and the waves are taking me. It never ends. I have many nice thoughts on weekdays. Suddenly I am sitting somewhere laughing for no reason. And then it feels like I’m dead.
It costs Ibrahim a lot to tell us the story, but he wants others who want to embark on the perilous journey to know what they are facing. And learns from his and Artin’s history.
We ask him what he would say to others who will embark on the same journey towards Europe.
-No. I would never advise anyone to throw themselves into the flames that way, and risk their lives out at sea. Many from home have called and asked me about it, and I have said to them, “No, do not. It is dangerous.”
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