‘More people would be alive if rescue came quickly’ – Channel crossing survivor
Issa Mohamed Omar told the Cranston Inquiry how he wants justice, and is a voice for his fellow passengers who died.
One of just two survivors of the deadliest Channel crossing on record has told an inquiry of the “harrowing” situation that unfolded when their boat got into trouble, and how he believes more people would have survived if a rescue mission had come quickly.
Issa Mohamed Omar was one of the passengers on board an inflatable boat that capsized as it attempted the journey to the UK from France on November 24 2021.
The inquiry heard how the boat left the French coast shortly after 10pm and around three hours into the journey it became “swamped”.
On Monday the inquiry’s counsel, Rory Phillips KC, detailed multiple distress calls made from the boat to authorities, but the incident was mistakenly marked as resolved and “no-one came to their rescue”.
Mr Mohamed Omar told the Cranston Inquiry looking into the tragedy on Tuesday how he wants “justice” and is a “voice” for his fellow passengers who died during the incident.
The 31-year-old from Somalia said because they are seen as refugees they feel like they are treated “like an animal” and believes that is why the rescue “did not come at all”.
He described the moment all of them fell into the sea, saying this is where “people started dying”, with a lot of people screaming.
“It’s very painful when someone is dying inside the water, the way the person is dying they cannot breathe, it’s a really difficult situation to be in,” he said.
“At that point we were all in shock, I never thought I would experience such a thing.”
Giving evidence to the inquiry remotely through an interpreter, Mr Mohamed Omar described how he kept moving to survive the cold water.
“In the morning I would say around 10 people were still alive,” he said.
“It’s a harrowing experience and I just don’t want to remember.
“All night I was holding to what remained of the boat, in the morning I could hear people screaming, it’s something I cannot forget in my mind.”
The survivor, who spent four months in hospital recovering, including learning how to walk again, added: “I believe if rescue would come quickly I believe half of those would still be alive today.
“Because we have been seen as refugees, that’s the reason the rescue did not come at all.
“We feel like we’re treated like an animal.”
The inquiry had heard that 26 people were identified among the dead, with four people missing and another person whose body was found, but whose identity has not been confirmed.
The inquiry said it cannot be certain how many people were on board the boat that night, but the French authorities believe there were 33 people, including 13 women and eight children.
Mr Mohamed Omar said the smugglers told them before they left the French coast on the evening of November 23 that there would be 33 people on the boat – but then more people were added to the dinghy, and he said they mostly did not count the children.
He recalled the boat was filled with people from around the world, including a lot of Kurdish people, as well as a Somalian woman, Ethiopian and Afghan people.
The witness said how the driver, an Egyptian man, told the passengers to begin calling the authorities for help when he believed they were in British waters.
The last phone call he believed was by a man opposite him and the operator gave him a number to send their location on WhatsApp.
He also described children screaming and people calling their families, while others tried to attract attention from other boats or planes by switching on their mobile phone torch lights.
Mr Mohamed Omar added: “People were in a desperate situation, they were trying to make phone calls, because my SIM was from Italy, I had no internet connection.
“Everyone thought they would not survive.”
He was eventually rescued by a French fishing boat, and woke up in hospital believing he sustained “many injuries”, with some affecting his memory and eyesight. He also said he suffers flashbacks from the incident.
The inquiry heard how Mr Mohamed Omar was forced to flee Somalia in 2006 after his father was targeted and killed as a governor of his town in the civil war there.
Along with his mother and siblings, they resettled in Yemen until the war broke out in 2014, and he was taken to a Houthi rebels-held prison over his refusal to fight for them in the conflict.
He told the inquiry the jail was bombed by the Yemen government and allies, and he was transferred to a hospital in Iran to treat his injuries.
It was from Iran he joined others in travelling through Turkey, Greece and Italy to avoid being sent back to Yemen.
He arrived in northern France on November 13 2021, and had attempted to cross to the UK two times before the fatal incident on the night of November 24.
Mr Mohamed Omar told the inquiry smugglers told them once they entered British waters they would be accepted as asylum seekers.
He added that he believed France did not accept Somali people for refugee status, and on coming to the UK, he said: “The reason why I want to come to the UK, to establish my life, I could be educated, I could help my family.”
The inquiry continues.
