The bodies of 16 Iraqi Kurdish migrants who died as a result of their boat sinking in the English Channel as they were trying to cross to the UK from France on 24 November arrived at Erbil International Airport late last night, 25 December, Roj News reports.
Families from Ranya, Kalar, Kirkuk and other Iraqi Kurdish cities have been waiting for the bodies of their relatives for weeks.
After receiving the bodies at Erbil International Airport yesterday, the families returned to their homes for the burials.
A boat carrying 33 migrants from different countries, including Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, capsized in the English Channel on November 24. Only two people survived the disaster.
Dozens of people have died travelling from Iraqi Kurdistan to Western countries in recent months, most freezing to death in the cold or drowning at sea.
Corruption, unemployment, political instability and the anti-democratic structure are among the reasons for tens of thousands of people leaving Iraqi Kurdistan in the past year.
No responsibility has been accepted by the Kurdistan Region to date despite mass emigration and numerous deaths.