TURKEY-MIGRANTS/AFGHANS Afghan migrants prepared to gamble their lives on a sea-crossing to Lesbos

Record ID: 142791

  • Title: TURKEY-MIGRANTS/AFGHANS Afghan migrants prepared to gamble their lives on a sea-crossing to Lesbos
  • Date: 24th August 2015
  • Summary: BADEMLI VILLAGE, TURKEY (AUGUST 24, 2015) (REUTERS) CLOTHES HUNG ON A TREE / MIGRANTS SITTING ON BEACH UNDER THE SHADE OF TREES VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SITTING AND SLEEPING ON FLATTENED CARDBOARD BOXES MIGRANTS MAKING VICTORY SIGN (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNNAMED AFGHAN MIGRANT, SAYING: "I have only one chance to live. So I want to get advantage of it. I want to start like everybody else in the world, a college and get a degree. I want my family beside me. I want to be happy. This is the fundamental thing that every human wants. Isn't it like this?" MIGRANT EATING BREAD DINGHY INFLATOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNNAMED AFGHAN MIGRANT, SAYING: "Yeah, you die like ten times throughout the way till here. I myself experienced it. I was about to die three times, three (inaudible), three places." VARIOUS OF A WOMAN BREAST-FEEDING HER BABY MAN PERFORMING MUSLIM PRAYERS MEN SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNNAMED AFGHAN MIGRANT, SAYING: "We have lots of problems in my country. We have lots of problems in Iran. We want to pass this dangerous way to actually catch my wishes. I want to improve myself, I want to improve my ability." MAN HOLDING BABY / WOMAN SLEEPING ON THE GROUND MEN SITTING VARIOUS OF GREEK ISLAND OF LESBOS AS SEEN FROM BADEMLI VILLAGE VIEW OF THE BEACH
  • Embargoed: 8th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAC5JQJUIFVEHIQ463Z5FLIMUBP
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Fleeing war and poverty in Central Asia, a group of Afghan migrants, sheltered at a beach in Turkey's Bademli village on Monday (August 24) after a dinghy that would take them to the nearby Greek Island of Lesbos was stolen.
    The Afghan migrants said they had spent days at the isolated beach, hoping to hear from human traffickers who would bring them a new dinghy to make the short, but perilous crossing to Europe. Having come this far, the Afghan migrants said they were willing to risk their lives in the hope of a better life in Europe.
    "I have only one chance to live. So I want to get advantage of it. I want to start like everybody else in the world a college and get a degree. I want my family besides me. I want to be happy. This is the fundamental thing that every human wants. Isn't it like this?", said a young Afghan man, who asked his name to be withheld for security reasons.
    He said he had faced death many times during his long journey in search of safety and employment in the affluent nations of western and northern Europe.
    "Yeah, you die like ten times throughout the way till here. I myself experienced it. I was about to die three times, three years, three places," he said.
    Another young Afghan migrant, who lived in Iran for 17 years after fleeing Afghanistan, said Europe offered the prospect of a better future than either Iran or his war-torn homeland.
    "We have lots of problems in my country. We have lots of problems in Iran. We want to pass this dangerous way to actually catch my wishes. I want to improve myself, I want to improve my ability." he said.
    the migrants each paid $1000 USD to human traffickers, after working for months in Turkey to save the money. When their dinghy was stolen, they were asked to wait at an isolated beach where they spent three desperate days.
    Lesbos, which lies less than 10 km (six miles) from the Turkish coast, has seen thousands of arrivals in recent months, mostly refugees from the Syrian civil war. In the past week alone, aid groups believe numbers have exceeded 1,500 per day.
    The short but dangerous crossing claimed the lives of another two migrants on Monday, who drowned after their dinghy capsized off the Lesbos coast. Another five are missing. More than 2,300 people have died this year in attempts to reach Europe by boat, according to the International Organization for Migration, mainly on the much longer crossing from north Africa to Italy.
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