Route from Erbil to Süleymaniye 30/6/2022

We are Syrian family from Aleppo, and have been living in Erbil since 2012, when we fled Syria and came to Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan.

When we first came to Erbil we crossed the border illegally on foot and managed to cross it the first time we tried. Other family members who had come to Erbil before us had told us where to cross and who to contact for help.

We contacted a smuggler and it was all very quick and easy. We got on a car to Qamishli and then another car to the village of Dêrika Hemko. From there we continued on foot and it was about one hour walk to get to the other side.

Thinking about it again, we could have also crossed without the smuggler. We paid about $30 per person but just for the adults. The children didn’t have to pay.

Things got a lot harder when the border was closed officially on the KRG (Kurdish Regional Government) side. We have never returned to Syria since because of the risk of never being able to cross back into Iraq again.

We didn’t go to Turkey because the Syrian-Iraqi border was so much easier to cross at the time. We chose the easiest option, and that was to go to Iraqi Kurdistan. We wish we had gone to Europe when the route was open in 2015. Seeing how things have turned out in Syria and how difficult life is here in Erbil for Syrians like us, we regret not taking that route when it was possible. 

If there will ever be an opportunity to travel to Europe we would go. The only thing that is stopping us is the illness of some family members and how expensive it has become to pay smugglers to arrive safely.

A cousin of ours has left for Europe two months ago (April 2022) and is now in Germany. He travelled from Erbil to Sulaymaniyah. Then arranged to be taken to Iran and cross into Turkey from the Iranian border. He walked nearly all of the way until he reached Turkey. It wasn’t possible for him to go from Iraq to Turkey directly because even the smugglers said it was too dangerous. The border is very militarised because of the conflict with the PKK.

He paid nearly 12.000 Euro to get to Germany from Erbil. His plan is to find work and send some money back to support us all. Maybe his wife will be able to reach him in Germany through some legal route. It would be too dangerous for her and their children to travel the same illegal route he did with the smugglers. He did it because there was no other choice.

The group he was travelling with was kidnapped for two days by another smuggling gang whilst on the route in Iran. His original smuggler had to find a deal so as to allow the group to continue, and they had to all pay more money to be freed.

The smuggler he was travelling with was an honest man in the end, he got them a good deal to get out of that situation. He chose to travel with that smuggler based on the recommendation of other people who had travelled before. But he was lucky. Sometimes it doesn’t go that well.

Interview date 30/7/22.

Erbil, KRG.