Osama, 20, searches for his father who disappeared in a shipwreck off Calais

There is a hint of despair in his eyes. However, since he was shipwrecked with other migrants off the beaches of Calais, Osama has done everything to find his father, his role model. Together, they left Syria to join family members in England. The young man waits and tells his story. And that of his father still missing.

On the bench of the Calais association La Margelle, Osama looks a little lost. But determined. Like a final duty to accomplish so as not to disappoint his father.

Both got on a boat, the night of October 22 to 23, 2024 on Sangatte beach (Pas-de-Calais). He tells : “In the evening, we went to hide in a sort of abandoned castle. Around midnight: 45, we went to hide in the dunes before reaching the beach, an hour later.”

This is where they find the smugglers. There are, according to him, 70 migrants. Osama continues : “We started to board but there was water entering the boat. We went down to go back to the beach but there were 5 smugglers who pushed us, they told us it was normal. They forced us back on the boat. We had moved forward 2 or 3 kilometers into the sea when the right side of the boat exploded. Usually, on boats, the parts are separated, if one deflates, not the others. But then, half of the boat separated, it capsized and everyone fell into the water. We tried to hold on to the remains of the boat. Some took gasoline on themselves and were burned. I too have a burn on my 2^e degree from lower back to legs”. Burns caused by mixing salty seawater and gasoline.

In the dark night, panic spreads among the castaways. “Teveryone was shouting. I heard there was a death, there was hysteria. We were trying to hold on, to survive. Two ferries passed, they saw us, there was light on us, but they did not help us. One of the ferries called the French coast guard. They arrived more than an hour later. We started having deaths, we started losing people.”

We started to have deaths, we started to lose people.

Osama, survivor of the shipwreck of October 23, 2024.

“No one had life jackets. The smugglers told us they would give them to us on the beach. They told us the ones they wanted to give us were damaged.”

In a calm and calm voice, the young man continues his story : “I saw dead people, people with us on the boat, I know people were swept away by the current, I couldn’t see if it was my father.”

The search for his father

Osama's family is from Aleppo in Syria. Country at war that they left when he was 7 years old to flee to Türkiye. For 13 years, they were refugees in Izmir with his brothers, sister and parents.

And then, a year ago, he took the plane with his father to go to Greece. First stage of a journey across Europe to join two of his brothers who succeeded in this perilous journey. They now live in England.

Ossama Ahmed says: “I lost sight of my father when the boat split in two. Some remained clinging to the sides of the boat and I was under the other part of the overturned boat. There must have been 50 meters between the two. We were shouting “help!” I didn't look for it right away, I thought it was hanging on the boat. It was when people came to help us that I started asking questions of the other migrants. I asked if anyone had seen my father. Some told me they saw it hanging, others didn't. I hadn't yet realized that I had lost it. I told myself he was there somewhere or in the hospital. I spent the next 8 days looking for him here and there, asking some of the wounded“.

With each body found since, Osama hopes and despairs. “Others began to find their loved ones dead in the shipwreck. Most have managed to cross since, I am the only one who stayed there, in Calais.“

Every day, he continues his research, goes to the police station, to the hospital. “The police did a sample of my DNA, if it ever matches anyone. It's already been a week and I haven't heard anything. I still hope he's alive. I can't imagine him dead. I'm afraid he's among those people found. I hope he is somewhere, in another European country. I'm waiting for news from him. (…)JI go to the police every day, I wait 4 or 5 hours… They took information, photos, what clothes he was wearing, what marks he has on his body. He wore a ring for a long time with his name inside and he hasn't been able to take it off for a while.”

To the question of whether he plans to leave Calais, the answer is clear : Non. “I don't think about crossing. I don't want to leave Calais at the moment. I have the impression that my father will come back one day. There are places, a park where I went with my father. I've been going back there ever since and I still have trouble leaving… As long as I don't hear from my father, I can't see myself leaving Calais. It's too hard for me. I wonder if my father wasn't saved by someone, that's why I'm testifying.”

When asked who his father was, a smile invaded his face before a veil of sadness made him lower his eyes, on the verge of tears. He begins, moved : “She's the most beautiful person I've ever known. He's the kindest person I've ever met. He is very respectful to everyone, very kind to children, adults, elderly people. He is a very religious person. Even before attempting the crossing, 30 minutes before, on the beach, he stopped for prayer. This is my example in life.”

His youth pushes him not to lose hope. His mother and his brothers, who remained in Türkiye, are counting on him. “These last few days, I have been preparing to receive some bad news. I need to find it so I can move forward. I have little hope of finding him alive, but I need to see him.”

With Flavien Bellouti / FTV.