Three children from a family from Sulaymaniyah have reportedly died after a migrant dinghy capsized in the Maritsa/Evros River on the Turkey-Greece border, leaving two of them missing and prompting an ongoing search.
Three children from Sulaymaniyah, in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, have died after the inflatable boat carrying them and their parents reportedly capsized in the Evros River, near the Turkish-Greek border, according to Turkish rescue authorities.
The family -- Harem Mohammed, 41, his wife Hozan Rostam, 37, and their children Hastyar, 12, Haryad, 9, and Mela, 5 -- had traveled from Sulaymaniyah to Istanbul before continuing to Edirne, where they reportedly planned to cross into Greece and travel on to Germany.
According to an account given by Mohammed and shared with Rudaw by migration activist Ranj Peshdari, a guide took the family from a flat in Edirne to wetlands near the NATO bridge on the Evros River on Wednesday (October 14) evening. They then joined three other people in a small, overloaded dinghy.
The boat capsized shortly after leaving the bank. The parents said they managed to bring the three children back to safety, but a smuggler’s assistant told them they had to make another attempt or risk being detained by Turkish police.
On the second attempt, Mohammed said, the strong current pushed the dinghy into a tree trunk and overturned it. He said he rescued his wife, but the three children were swept away by the water.
Kurdish media reported that rescue teams recovered the parents and brought the child ashore near Bosnaköy. "One child was pulled from the river and taken to hospital, but later died despite medical treatment," Peshdari said. "The other two children remain missing."
Read AlsoGreece: Hundreds of migrants rescued and discovered over last two days
Search operations underway
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and gendarmerie teams launched searches by boat, along the riverbank and from the air on Thursday (October 15). State media photographs showed rescue operations continuing along the Evros River.
The children’s relatives in Sulaymaniyah confirmed the deaths and appealed for help locating the two missing bodies. The children’s grandfather, Wasta Reza, reportedly called on Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani to press Turkish authorities to intensify the search.
The parents were reportedly held at a police station in Edirne for questioning after the incident. Mohammed said Turkish officers had treated the couple with compassion.
The Evros River forms part of the border between Turkey and Greece and has become one of the routes used by migrants attempting to enter the European Union irregularly. Smugglers often use small or unsuitable boats, sometimes at night or in poor weather, increasing the risk of capsizing and drowning.
The exact number of people aboard, the role of the alleged smuggler and whether the three other migrants were rescued or detained could not immediately be independently verified.
Read AlsoAegean Sea: 94 migrants rescued, one found dead, in waters between Turkey and Greece
Child deaths on migration routes
The family’s journey reflects the pressures driving many Kurds from Iraq’s Kurdistan region to seek a future in Europe. Research by the International Center for Migration Policy Development identifies limited economic opportunities, high youth unemployment, corruption, weak governance and political uncertainty as key reasons people leave. Many also cite a lack of confidence in the region’s political and economic future.
However, the risks of migration journeys can be severe. The deaths of the three children come amid a wider pattern of child fatalities on routes towards Europe. According to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 4,414 children died on migration routes worldwide between 2014 and 2025, although the true toll is likely to be much higher because more than half of the nearly 81,000 recorded migrant deaths and disappearances lack age information.
In the central Mediterranean -- one of the deadliest routes to Europe -- children made up 19 percent of registered arrivals in Italy and Malta in 2024, but only two percent of recorded deaths, a gap the IOM says points to serious under-recording rather than lower risk. The organization has called for stronger search-and-rescue capacity, more systematic documentation of deaths, and better data-sharing between governments and humanitarian organizations.
Read AlsoMigrants cross from Turkey to small Greek island on speedboat