the times | Saturday December 4 2021 25News
to be able to look for work as an accountant after his asylum application is processed
too small for the 33 people waiting to
cross. During a four-minute call at
2.05am Twana said that they were an
hour from the UK but in a final
message he revealed that the engine
was not working.
Twana’s trip was organised by
Abdullah Omar, 35, the boss of the
Yaran Travel agency in the centre of
Ranya. Omar boasted: “I help people
find the best smugglers to take them
to Europe.” He has helped more than
500 people this year, with most
wanting to go to the UK.
Twana and many of the others
feared dead had been taken by the
people-smuggling gang from a camp
on the outskirts of Dunkirk where
The Times met Rzgar Hussin’s family
two weeks ago. Kazhal Ahmad, who
has been married to Hussin for 23
years, confessed she was scared at the
prospect of crossing the Channel with
her children. The couple’s children
Hadia, Mubin, 16, and Hasti, 7, were
doing their best to keep warm on a
freezing day huddled beside a fire.
“I’m very scared,” Kazhal said. “The
thought of me and my children going
in that boat worries me every minute.
But look at where we are: we cannot
stay here.” They hoped to start a new
life with relatives in Birmingham.
Hussin, who sold the family home to
fund their trip stayed in Iraq because
he feared that he would lose his job asa police officer if caught. Their story is
emblematic of a new wave of migrants
travelling from the Middle East and
prepared to take huge risks in search
of a better life in the West. Crossings
by small boats began two years ago
when wealthy Iranians granted tourist
visas by Hungary made their way to
the north of France. They had the
money and skills to avoid the risky
and time-consuming attempts to
smuggle themselves on to lorries. The
Iranian operation expanded and
began carrying other nationalities
who had the money to pay for the
crossings or agreed to pay off their
debts by working for the gang in the
UK. In 2018 it was documented that
539 refugees tried to make the journey
by sea; last year the figure was 8,438.
The Summit Foundation for
Refugees and Displaced Affairs
estimates at least 40,000 Iraqis have
left the country since the beginning of
the year, 70 per cent of whom came
from the Kurdish region. The Kurdish
people-smuggler who organised the
fateful dinghy crossing was identified
yesterday as a man using the
pseudonym Bashdar Ranya. He
contacted Twana Mamad’s brother on
Facebook Messenger saying he was on
the run in Germany and apologising
for the sinking. “I am sorry. It was a
surprise to me too,” he said. “I will
compensate you.”one man’s death-defying journey
News
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE
From Jungle to departure lounge: how well-heeled travellers joined impoverished migrantsSince the Red Cross opened
the first refugee centre for
migrants hoping to cross
the English Channel at
Sangatte, the camps have
been known by residents as
“the Jungle” (David Brown
writes).
The most recent jungle at
Grande-Synthe — which had
been temporary home tomany of the 27 people who
drowned when their dinghy
sank on November 24 —
sometimes looked more like
an airport departure lounge.
Families with toddlers
and young children were
being delivered to the camp
immaculately dressed,
sometimes pulling smart
airline suitcases. They oftenspent just a few nights
waiting for the right
weather conditions for the
next dinghy crossing,
leaving behind the poorer
residents to endure the
mud, cold and rain.
In the beginning, the
Jungle had provided
emergency accommodation
for impoverished migrantswaiting to sneak aboard a
lorry to take them to a new
life across the Channel.
Crossings by small boats
began in 2018 when
wealthy Iranians granted
tourist visas by Hungary
made their way to France.
They had the money and
contacts to arrange for
boats to pick them up.