Mother of Syrian victim of shipwreck off Algeria hopes to see his body
Mother of Masoud Muhammad who drowned in a shipwreck off the Algerian coast – North Press
KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – As women sit to console her for the loss of her son and his family, Bakr holds his photo and gazes at his eyes at times or flips through his photos on the phone, all the while with tears in her eyes.
Jamila Bakr is waiting for the return of the victims’ bodies who drowned off the coast of Algeria to bid farewell to her son Masoud, his wife and their daughter, and see them for the last time before burying them. She wanted to meet them in better circumstances especially after a 15-year long absence.
Bakr, 60, from the city of Kobani, north Syria, is the mother of Masoud Mustafa Muhammad, 34, who drowned on June 4 with his wife, Ula Abdurrazaq, 23, and their daughter, Lorin, 4, along with other immigrants, mostly from Kobani.
A boat carrying about 25 immigrants, mostly from Kobani, including women and children, sailed from the shores of the city of Larhat in the Algerian state of Tipaza towards Spain at dawn on June 4 and was reported to have drowned hours later. Only one child from Kobani survived.
Masoud studied in Kobani until the ninth grade, but he had a passion for sewing, which prompted him to take courses to learn the profession in Kobani. Then, 15 years ago, he went to Aleppo. His mother said she had not seen him since.
After that, about 14 years ago, “he headed to Lebanon, where he worked as a tailor” he married there about five years ago and had a daughter, she told North Press, barely capable of holding her tears.
She longs to hold her son and his daughter in her arms, but fate had a different path.
The same fate that denied Jamila from seeing her son prompted him to think about immigrating to Europe over a year ago after a decline in his job in Lebanon. Scarce job opportunities, and encouragement by his brothers in Europe to follow them there pushed him to head to Algeria a year and three months ago, hoping to go to Europe via the sea.
Masoud, through smugglers, tried to take refuge in Europe but was unlucky, although many families preceded him and arrived in Europe. His mother told him to postpone his journey until summer when the tides are lower. However, she did not know that her request would not delay his death, and he drowned in the sea.
According to the mother, Masoud had five brothers, one in Bulgaria, another in the Netherlands, and the rest in Germany.
Masoud’s parents live in the village of Qara Mezra, 10km south of Kobani, in dire economic conditions amid a decline in the production of crops. Even though they own a piece of land, the family does not consider it a sustainable resource, which prompted their children to head to Europe looking for job opportunities, according to Bakr.
She said that her son Masoud told her he could not afford the high expenses anymore after having a family, as there were no job opportunities in the region, so he decided to immigrate. He had informed her when he left his residence in Algeria.
She used to call him twice a day before he drowned. He would tell her how the smuggler would postpone their trip day after day.
Her son was deceived more than once. Smugglers took his money several times so his brothers would have to send him money again.
Bakr bemoaned his brothers, who had been waiting for Masoud to come and join them in Europe, but he had no luck.
She appeals to return the bodies of her son, his wife, and his daughter so she can visit their graves on Fridays and say prayers for their souls.
She did not see her son alive for a long period and hoped to see his and his family’s faces after they passed away. At the same time, she has faith that his death was “an act of God.”
But her longing to see him remains as she did not see him for 15 years, especially because she did not attend his wedding in Lebanon and had not seen his wife and daughter.