Honored Martyr's Story
Esra was a Syrian refugee. She and her 19 year old brother wanted to join her husband in Hamburg, Germany. They paid thousands of dollars to smugglers to take them across the Mediterranean Sea to Greece and manage the land travel. Their boat, carrying over 750 people, began having serious issues off the coast of Greece near Kalamata. The boat sent out several SOS signals, but the Greek border patrol agency Frontex aggressively turned them away as the boat was capsizing. The agency also did not call for coast guard or other aid groups to help save the boat. There were approximately 100 survivors. None were women or children since they had to be separated into the lower cabinets of the boat.