Osama Ahmed’s life took a dramatic turn one night in October when the small boat that was to take him and his father to the English coast sank shortly after leaving France.
The 20-year-old Syrian was saved but when he woke up in hospital and asked about his father, no one knew anything.
From that moment on, Osama has been desperately searching for his father with whom he had hoped to start a new life in Britain.
In addition to the tragically long list of deaths of migrants trying to cross the Channel, another figure is also rising rapidly: the missing.
“I’m living in hope of finding him,” Osama told AFP at a house in Calais, on the French coast, where an institution, La Margela, was keeping him. He rejected any idea that his father might not have survived. He said, “God willing, I will find him.”
On the night of 22 and 23 October, father and son tried to cross the water alone, like 30,000 other migrants this year alone. This was his third attempt.
They were part of a group of about 60 people hiding in the dunes, who, following a signal from the smugglers, ran towards the small boat waiting for them in the water.
But barely a kilometer (1,000 yards) into the journey, water started leaking.
The group turned the boat around, Osama said, but smugglers on the beach pushed them back into the sea.
He said he was promised lifejackets which were not fulfilled as smugglers claimed they were damaged.
The boat’s air chambers completely deflated soon after departure, and everyone on board fell into the sea.
Osama and his father clung to each other for half an hour, but when the boat began to disintegrate in the panic and darkness, they separated.
The two ferries passed without stopping and rescue services eventually arrived.
French maritime authorities reported finding three bodies, a woman and two men, after the accident, which occurred two kilometers (1.2 miles) off the French coast.
Forty-five people were rescued but survivors reported that there were more people on board, suggesting that many were missing.
‘The best man in the world’
The drama followed other similar incidents in the Channel and authorities have since found nine bodies floating in the ocean or washed up on northern French beaches, none of them those of the young Syrian father.
Osama, who was treated at the hospital for burns caused by salt water and fuel, visited every police station, hospital and Red Cross office in the area in search of his father, but to no avail.
He told authorities the clothes his father was last wearing and the ring with his name engraved on it. Police took Osama’s DNA sample.
Whenever a body is found on the beach, Osama fears it might be his father’s. As the agonizing wait grows longer, his life plans go up the drain.
His family fled Syria and settled in Türkiye 13 years ago. Osama’s two brothers are already in England, they also traveled in small boats.
He smiled broadly as he described his father as “the best man in the world” and his “role model”.
There is a photograph of him on his phone, showing a man around 50 years old wearing a white shirt and jacket and sporting a brown moustache.
French unions say authorities should do more to help survivors locate their loved ones after failed crossings.
“People go missing and their families have great difficulty accessing services that can assist in their search,” said Jean Bonnet, co-founder of La Margel, which helps migrants navigate the French official route. Tries to help.
“We sometimes feel like we’re being chased away,” he said.
When Osama left the hospital injured and shocked, he said, he was not offered any accommodation, so he went back to the same camp where he had stayed earlier. It was here that La Margella took over.
About 1,200 migrants have reached England on small boats since early November, braving freezing temperatures and fog, according to British official figures.
Sixty people have been confirmed dead this year – not counting recently discovered bodies and missing people – a record number since such Channel crossings began in 2018.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
