‘My wife was on the boat. I tracked the GPS... then it disappeared’
Anguish of husband who fears his spouse drowned in the Channel migrant disaster
THE husband of an Iraqi-kurdish woman has told of his fears that she drowned in the Channel tragedy, after her GPS signal suddenly disappeared as he was tracking her across the sea.
Maryam Nuri is believed by her family to have been among 27 migrants who drowned when their flimsy boat deflated six miles off the coast of Calais in rough seas and cold weather.
French lifeboat crew told last night how they dragged the bodies of the victims from the sea, including 17 men, seven women – one of whom was pregnant – and three children. Photographs emerged yesterday of the crumpled boat likened to a “paddling pool” floating in the Channel.
Last night Boris Johnson wrote to Emmanuel Macron formally proposing joint patrols on French beaches as early as next week to stop small boats heading for the UK. In a letter spelling out UK plans, Mr Johnson also called for a new “returns agreement” between the two countries.
The husband of Mrs Nuri, who was known as Baran and came from Ranya in northern Iraq, was among the many family members across the world desperately waiting last night for news of their missing loved ones. He is a Kurdish immigrant living in the UK, and tearfully told how he had been tracking his wife as she travelled across the Channel to join him before her signal abruptly disappeared just over four hours into her journey.
Before losing contact, his wife had told him by phone that she was in the boat with about 30 other people including Afghan nationals and other Kurdish women, one of whom was a girl aged around nine.
“She is not in the UK, which means that she is gone. It is very sad for me, and for everyone,” said Mrs Nuri’s husband, who did not wish to be named.
“I had continuous contact with my wife and I was tracking her live GPS.
“After 4 hours and 18 minutes from the moment she went into that boat, I think they were in the middle of the sea, then I lost her,” he said.
The husband said that he called the people smugglers who arranged the fatal journey after learning that a boat had sunk in the Channel, but the men said they had not been able to contact anyone on board. “I am in a very bad state,” he said.
Two survivors reportedly told police yesterday that the dinghy was hit by a container ship, puncturing its thin rubber hull and deflating the vessel.
They were named on social media last night as Mohammed Khalid from Kurdistan and Omer from Somalia.
Many of the migrants who lost their lives in the incident are believed to be Kurds from the Peshdar region in Sulaimani province in northern Iraq, alongside Iranians and Afghans.
Ranj Peshdari, a Kurdish migration activist, said he had been contacted by numerous families searching for loved ones who intended to cross the Channel this week.
“I’ve been told by people in Dunkirk that none of these individuals had life vests,” Mr Peshdari said.
“Despite this, the smuggler, a Dutchkurd, sent them on their way and promised them that their journey would be short.” Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan region, said he was “deeply saddened” to hear of “the tragic loss of 27 innocent lives in the English Channel”.
“Some of the victims appear to be Kurds. We are working to establish their identities. Our thoughts are with their families,” he added.
Despite the tragedy, dozens more migrants attempted to cross the Channel to reach Britain yesterday.
An RNLI lifeboat and Border Force vessel intercepted two boats attempting to make the crossing, with a group of about 25 people brought into Dover at around 5am. People wearing life jackets and wrapped in blankets were escorted up by immigration enforcement officials for processing at nearby Tug Haven. At least 10 other people have died in the past few weeks while attempting to cross the Channel.
A total of 757 migrants crossed in 17 boats on Wednesday, the day 27 people drowned. This year, more than 25,700 migrants have arrived in the UK by boat, more than three times the 8,469 that did so in 2020. In 2019, just 1,850 made the crossing.
Charles Devos, a French lifeboatman who was one of the first people to arrive at the scene of Wednesday’s tragedy, said: “It was a bit like the film Titanic when you saw all these people plunged into the water, drowning, with no means of being able to be rescued.”
Before attempting the crossing, the migrants had been living in camps or sleeping on the streets and in Calais train station, according to La Voix du Nord newspaper.
A group of Afghan teenagers in a French camp yesterday revealed that they feared five of their friends were among those who died in the tragedy. Hassan, 30, said a group of his friends decided to cross on Wednesday and that he has not heard from them since.
Meanwhile, it emerged that smugglers shot a scared migrant in the kneecap after he refused to board a boat on the same night as the tragedy. However, French authorities yesterday backtracked on claims that they had arrested the smugglers behind the disaster.
Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, had said four suspected traffickers accused of being directly linked to the crossing had been arrested. Early yesterday he said a fifth man suspected of buying inflatable boats for the crossing had been detained. However, the Lille prosecutor’s office has since all but ruled out any link between the arrests and the incident.
Under the deal put to Mr Macron by Mr Johnson, migrants who arrive on UK shores illegally would be sent back to France, with London taking in more child migrants with British family links in return. Downing Street sees the pact as the best long-term solution to the escalating problem of boat crossings, as it would undercut smugglers promising a route into the UK.
Other UK proposals include more sensors on French beaches, better airborne surveillance, extra maritime patrols and deeper joint intelligence work. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, is expected to attend a meeting of EU immigration ministers on Sunday to discuss new measures.