Death of at Least 20 Iranian Kurds Following Capsizing of Refugee Boats Near Italy

Following the announcement of the death and disappearance of several Iranian refugees heading to Italy due to the capsizing of two boats in open waters, a member of the Hengaw website detailed the circumstances of the deaths of some of these refugees in an interview with Radio Farda. According to Zhila Mostajer, a board member of Hengaw, after the capsizing of the two boats, the survivors attempted to use food and drinking water stored in a tube on the boat due to severe hunger and thirst, which exploded. She stated that this incident indicates that the boats lacked the necessary standards, adding that the explosion of the tube led to the sinking of the boat and the drowning of 30 refugees. Survivors told Hengaw that they had no internet access due to being in open waters, and despite firing several flares, no one came to their aid. Ms. Mostajer mentioned that the boat remained capsized in the water for three days while 20 refugees were on it. Some of these individuals died during this time from hunger and thirst, while others 'experienced mental delusions and threw themselves into the water.' Eventually, a French leisure boat noticed the presence of these refugees and came to their aid. Survivors reported that their physical condition was so dire that they were unable to assist others. The identities of all the deceased have not yet been precisely determined, and the survivors are also 'not in a suitable physical and mental condition' to provide information. It is unclear how many children were on the boat, but according to a board member of Hengaw, one child survived, and the names of ten children who were killed in this incident have been provided to the website. The boat carried passengers from Iranian Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, with 66 out of 76 people reported dead, and ten reaching Italy, with nine of them in critical condition. Twenty of the deceased were from Iranian Kurdish areas such as Piranshahr, Sardasht, Urmia, Sanandaj, and Bukan, whose names have been verified by Hengaw. According to Zhila Mostajer, some of the Iranian Kurdish citizens who died in this boat were concerned about their fate due to political security cases and had gone to Iraqi Kurdistan, but due to a security agreement between Iran and Iraq and the possibility of their extradition, they were trying to reach a safe third country. On June 18, the Italian Coast Guard and a charity organization assisting migrants reported that at least 11 refugees had died and dozens more were missing due to the capsizing of two boats in waters near the southern coasts of Italy. According to Italian media at the time, most of the missing migrants in one of the two boats were from Iran and Afghanistan. The Italian Coast Guard stated, 'Search and rescue operations began after receiving a distress alert from a French leisure boat that was passing through the area.' This French boat, after sending a warning about 'observing a boat that was partially capsized,' managed to rescue 12 of the occupants. These individuals were then handed over to the Italian Coast Guard and transferred from the scene to one of the southern ports of the country.