At her home in the Syrian town of Daraa al-Balad, Rania Abu Aoun spends her days waiting anxiously for news about her son, Ramy. It is agonizing, she says. Ramy’s phone has been off since January 3, 2022, when he left on a boat from Algeria heading towards Spain. He disappeared on that journey.
Since the Syrian war erupted in 2011, the town of Daraa, and especially the neighborhood of Tarik al-Sad where the Aoun family lives, has been caught up in intense fighting between opposition fighters and government forces, coming under heavy bombardment. Rania’s house was hit by an air raid in 2013.
The relentless war and the economic challenges Syrians experience as refugees in neighboring countries – notably Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey – pushed thousands to opt for the difficult journey to Europe. By March 2021, more than one million Syrians had arrived in Europe as asylum seekers and refugees. However, some, like Ramy and the three friends he was traveling with, seem to have never made it.
Ramy, a 30-year-old father of three, had dreams of providing a better future for his children. He met a woman named Latifa, who promised to arrange his journey to Spain. Ramy’s family paid $4,000 for his trip, thinking it would cover everything. However, after he arrived in Algeria, Latifa stopped responding.
Ramy’s family and the families of the three other Syrians he was traveling with have taken up the search themselves, but nobody they have contacted has been able to help. They have reached out to intermediaries and even the Spanish Red Cross, but have received little assistance.
The two women are now in touch with hundreds of other families whose loved ones have also gone missing on sea voyages across the Mediterranean to Spain. They are tired of searching alone, with no support from the authorities.
The journey to Europe is treacherous, with shipwrecks and deaths occurring frequently. The lucky ones are rescued, but many are never found. Rania and Anouar are desperate for answers about their missing loved ones and hope that the authorities will take action to help them find closure.