Hassan Ali warns: never again this dangerous escape to Europe!

Hassan Ali warns: never again this dangerous escape to Europe!

A shocking fate on the way to Europe: Hassan Ali survived the unimaginable, but the price was high.

Islamabad, Pakistan - as Hassan Ali fell into the icy waters of the Mediterranean, he thought of his two children - of their radiant faces, their hugs and the hopes he had for their future. But at that moment of despair, he also thought of the others from his small village in the province of Punjab, who also had the dream to get to Europe. Did you also spend your last moments in the Pech Black Lake while you thought of your home and the people you had left behind?

"I heard of so many others," says Hassan, while talking about a borrowed phone from the Malakasa refugee camp near Athens. Since he couldn't swim, he was sure that he would drown. But then he felt the rope - thrown by a merchant ship. "I held it up with my life," he says.

a dramatic rescue attempt

Hassan was the first to get on board in the early morning of December 14th near the Greek island of Crete. Many more followed during the two -day rescue operation, in which nine ships, including the Greek coast guard as well as merchant ships and helicopters, were involved. But not all survived.

The Greek authorities confirmed at least five deaths and more than 200 survivors after four separate rescue campaigns of the coast guard at the weekend. The exact number of missing persons remains unclear. Three boats with migrants capsized between the 14th and 15th of December 15th near the island of Gavdos, and another boat sank near the Peloponnes.

The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the corpses were recovered by five Pakistani nationals, while at least 47 Pakistanis were saved. The Pakistani embassy in Athens indicated that at least 35 Pakistani nationals will continue to be missing.

a desperate departure

Hassan's journey began about three months ago when the 23-year-old left his wife and two little sons in their village near the industrial city of Gujrat. The third of five siblings worked as a steel builder on construction sites and earned 42,000 rupees ($ 150) a month if he worked 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. But despite hard work, he could hardly make ends meet because the prices rose constantly.

"My electricity bill was between $ 15,000 ($ 54) and $ 18,000 rupees ($ 64)," he explains. "And the food costs were almost as high for my family, including my parents and two younger siblings." Hassan often had to take out small loans to make ends meet and was constantly worried about what would happen in the event of an emergency, such as an illness in the family.

"In Pakistan it is impossible to live worthy with such an income," he says. This despair drove him to make risky decisions. "Nobody risks their life voluntarily in this way," he explains.

After talks with his wife, mother and older brother, the family decided to sell a small piece of land and his mother's jewelry to finance the trip. They collected almost two million rupees ($ 7,100) to pay an "agent" who promised a safe passage to Europe

Hassan felt a mixture of fear and excitement when he said goodbye to his family and started his way through Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Egypt after Libya.

In Libya, however, he was brought to a camp where more than 100 men were locked up in a 6 x 6 meter room. The tugs took his phone, passport and money from him. "We got a piece of bread every day," he explains, adding: "The guards allowed us a five -minute visit to the toilet per day."

Hassan describes how everyone who complained about the food or asked for a toilet was beaten with steel rods and PVC pipes. "We could only look at each other or whisper quietly. Anyone who made a little noise was brutally punished," he says.

When the guards announced that they were brought to Italy but to Greece due to bad weather, the men only had 30 minutes to prepare for departure. Your cell phones and passports have been returned to you.

Hassan, who had never seen the sea before, was scared. "I bend to be sent back to Pakistan, but they told us: 'There is no back. Either forward or die'," he reports.

Over 80 men were cried on an overloaded wooden boat that was designed for a maximum of 40 passengers. The lake was tricky and Hassan describes how "stormy winds and huge waves" let the men "wet and scared". After 40 hours at sea, the boat and Hassan and the others plunged into the Mediterranean.

"When I fell into the water, I held my breath," he recalls. "When I reappeared, I was able to grab the rope that was thrown by the ship like a miracle." When he was pulled on board, Hassan collapsed. He believes that it is a miracle that he survived.

"After what we have experienced, I hire people not to take this path," he says. "It is not worth the risk."