Palestinians from Gaza risk death at sea dreaming of a better life in Europe

Around 36,000 people have left the Strip in the past 5 years attempting to emigrate, according to the Gaza-based Masarat research institute

Samira, the 55-year-old mother of Palestinian Yunis al-Shaer, one of eight young Palestinian men who drowned two months prior off the coast of Tunisia in a clandestine migration attempt to Europe, walks past a framed picture of him at her house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 20, 2022. (SAID KHATIB / AFP)
Samira, the 55-year-old mother of Palestinian Yunis al-Shaer, one of eight young Palestinian men who drowned two months prior off the coast of Tunisia in a clandestine migration attempt to Europe, walks past a framed picture of him at her house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 20, 2022. (SAID KHATIB / AFP)

GAZA STRIP — Younis al-Shaer left Gaza dreaming of a better life in Europe, only to return to the Palestinian enclave in a coffin.

The 21-year-old was one of scores of Palestinians risking the perilous journey across the Mediterranean.

He drowned alongside seven other Gazans, whose bodies were returned home in December.

The death hit his mother Samira al-Shaer like an “earthquake,” she told AFP at the family home in Rafah, southern Gaza.

“I knew the dangers of emigrating, but at some point I gave up because of his insistence on leaving. Every day I waited for news of his death,” she said.

Kissing a photo of her late son, she said it was a “lack of work and the poverty that pushed Younis to leave.”

Samira, the 55-year-old mother of Palestinian Yunis al-Shaer, gives an interview at her house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on December 20, 2022. (SAID KHATIB / AFP)

As many as two-thirds of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million residents live in poverty, according to figures from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Shaer studied accountancy for two years before deciding to leave the Palestinian enclave, ruled by the Hamas terror group, along with a group of relatives.

Gaza has been under blockade by Israel and Egypt for the 15 years since Hamas seized power from the Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Jerusalem says the measure is necessary to limit the ability of Hamas — which is committed to Israel’s destruction — from arming itself for attacks and war. Critics say the blockade amounts to collective punishment.

Shaer took the land crossing to Egypt last February, before traveling onwards to Libya which is a hub for unauthorized Mediterranean crossings.

He ultimately hoped to reach Belgium, and along the arduous route would call his mother.

“He said to me: ‘Don’t worry, God willing, we will arrive’,” she said, adding that other relatives had previously made the journey successfully.

Samira (2nd-R), the 55-year-old mother of Palestinian Yunis al-Shaer, one of eight young Palestinian men who drowned two months prior off the coast of Tunisia in a clandestine migration attempt to Europe, sits with his brother Mohamed (R) and aunt Monira (4th-R) and other family members together during an interview at their house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 20, 2022. (SAID KHATIB / AFP)

‘Cruel and humiliating’

Yet the plan soon began to unravel, his brother Mohammed al-Shaer told AFP.

Upon reaching Libya, the group had their money and belongings stolen.

They had to sleep in places “unfit even for animals,” said his brother, 34.

The group were detained by one of Libya’s many people trafficking gangs, which often kidnap migrants for ransom. His brother said the gang forced his family to pay $1,500.

Separately, the group initially paid to cross the Mediterranean but were tricked and there was “no boat, no shelter, no food,” Shaer said.

“The trip was cruel and humiliating… all this was only torture and humiliation,” he added.

They eventually boarded a rubber dinghy in October, but it encountered trouble and the boat never reached the Italian shore.

Younis al-Shaer’s body and those of seven other Gazans were later recovered from the Tunisian coast, west of Libya.

Mohammad (not seen) shows pictures of his brother Yunis al-Shaer (R) in Libya, from the family’s house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on December 20, 2022. (SAID KHATIB / AFP)

‘They lied to me’

From Gaza, migrants now tread a dangerous path through Egypt and Libya before trying their luck at sea, along with fellow migrants fleeing poverty and violence in North Africa, Syria, sub-Saharan Africa and even further afield.

The number of people reaching Europe by the Mediterranean Sea has been on the rise over the past three years, UNHCR data show, reaching more than 146,000 in 2022.

For Samir Zaqout, deputy director of the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, a Gaza-based NGO, “unemployment, poverty and frustration are the most important drivers of youth migration from Gaza.”

There are no official statistics on the number of people who have fled in recent years from the territory.

According to Masarat, a research institute based in Gaza, around 36,000 people have left the Strip in the past five years attempting to emigrate.

Illustrative photo of Palestinian fishermen on a boat off the coast of the Gaza Strip, February 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

The journey can cost vast sums. Shaer estimated his brother’s trip cost around $9,000, of which two-thirds went to smugglers.

The family went 20 days without hearing from him, before his brother contacted the smugglers on Facebook.

“They told me that everything was fine… but they lied to me,” he said.

A desperate Shaer then reached out to some Tunisian activists and partnered with them in trying to find Younis and the other Gazans.

“They found his passport wrapped in nylon among corpses washed up by the sea on the coast,” sighed Shaer.

Younis’s dreams cost him his life, said his family.

“Younis only wanted to ensure his future. He dreamed of being himself, of owning a house and a motorbike, and of opening a business from which he could live,” said Shaer.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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