‘They don’t see us as humans’: Family’s anger at people smugglers after daughter dies in boat tragedy
Mohammed looks at me, his eyes wet from tears, and shakes his head gently. Grief is like a weight around him, which he meets with forced smiles and choked-back tears.
“Every day, I think of dying a hundred times,” he says.
Next to him is his wife, Nour, heavily pregnant and sobbing into her hands. She is due to give birth in just a couple of weeks, but now mourns her daughter just as she awaits the arrival of a son.
It is less than a week since Rula drowned in a French canal, and the devastation is still desperately etched on their faces.
Nour unlocks her phone and calls up a photo of Rula. She is smiling out from the screen.
“She was beautiful and I lost her. My little princess. She was seven years old, she had seen nothing in this world. We just wanted to make their lives better,” she says.
Rula died because of the family’s dream of reaching Britain. They had spent years travelling from Iraq, where their lives were threatened, across Europe, to Germany and then on to France.
Nour and her family had spent years travelling from Iraq, where their lives were threatened
A few days ago, the family boarded a boat in France, intent on reaching Britain. They had paid a people smuggler €6,000, and been promised seats aboard the sort of vessel used for tourist trips – safe and reliable.
Instead, they were placed on a death-trap – an overloaded stolen pleasure-boat with no life jackets that capsized on a canal. Rula, who had sought refuge from the noise in a small cabin at the front of the boat, was trapped inside.
“The water came into the cabin and she was stuck,” says Mohammed.
“The smugglers had left us. I had to rescue my wife, my son and another person. But I couldn’t rescue her.”
They are too tired to shout or become furious. But if you ask them about blame, then the answer comes back.
“My daughter died and the reason why is because of the people smugglers who have no morals,” he says.
“They fooled us, took money from us and threw us in the water without any mercy. They do not see humans as humans – they only see materials and money.”
Muhaimen pays his respects at his sister’s funeral
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Rula’s death poses tough question for politicians
Besides them are their three sons – Muhaimen, 14, Hassan, 10, and Moamel, eight. They listen and nod along quietly.
“She was very dear to us, but what do we do?” says Hassan, when I ask him about his sister.
“I want her to come back but she won’t.” His grief is so thick it bewilders him.
The family invited us to talk to them. They wanted the world to know about their daughter, but they also wanted to talk about their exasperation with the life they’ve ended up living – fleeing a home where they cannot stay, but struggling to find a place where they can actually settle.
“I do not know what to do or where to go,” Nour says. “What crime have these children committed? What is their future? I need a country to listen to me, just take their papers.”
Mohammed nods and holds his wife. “When you reach a point when your life is not secure, when your children could get killed, you have no choice but to migrate and go to countries that preach humanity.
Rula’s father Mohammed speaks to Sky News
“But when you talk to them, tell them your story, they threaten you with deportation. Our children are smart but honestly, sometimes we wonder – why did we bring them into this world?”
I ask if they would still like to go to Britain, despite all the trauma they have experienced. The answer is yes. Remarkably, they plan on trying again.
A message comes through. The family has been asked to go to the morgue in Lille.
Mohammed comes in and out, a ball of nervous tension. Hassan and Moamel play with a paper aeroplane on a patch of lawn over the road from the morgue. They find a ladybird and agree that Rula would have loved it.
But then they are called back in, and they see her body, and when we see the boys next they are silent but for their weeping.
A short while later, Rula’s body is released to the family but there is little time to waste. Muslim tradition dictates that the burial must take place before sunrise.
When we get to the graveyard, there are dozens of people waiting – sympathetic strangers who’ve come to offer solace. You can see the family are touched.
At the far end, under the shadow of a tall electricity pylon but shaded from the traffic noise, Rula’s coffin is lowered into a grave.
Rula was buried during a small ceremony
There is a prayer, a moment of reflection, and then the grave is filled in. Her father and brothers all rub their hands in the soil. A bag is filled with the dirt and given to Nour. Flowers are placed over the grave, as well as photos of Rula. A marker is put in place, remembering her name. Hassan kisses it.
We say goodbye to the family, and one thing strikes me. If Mohammed, Nour and their children do eventually get to the UK, they will not be allowed to travel abroad again for a long time.
Reaching Britain will mean being cut off from their daughter’s final resting place, unable to lay flowers on Rula’s grave. Like so much in the story of migration, it is also a tale of making terrible choices.
The conclave to elect Pope Francis’s successor will begin on 7 May, the Vatican has announced.
Some 135 cardinal electors – those under the age of 80 – will take part and vote for the new pontiff.
The rituals of the event, held in the Sistine Chapel, are elaborate and date back centuries. So how does the process work?
When Pope Francis died, the Catholic Church entered a period known as “sede vacante”, meaning “empty seat”.
His ring and seal – used to dispatch papal documents – were broken to prevent anyone else from using them.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell – the Camerlengo, or chamberlain, who announced Francis’s death – became the interim chief of the Catholic Church.
Pic: Reuters
The conclave
Cardinals travel to Rome from all over the world and stay until a new pope is chosen.
Of the 252 current ones, there are 135 cardinal electors: 53 from Europe; 23 from Asia; 20 from North America; 18 from Africa; 17 from South America; and four from Oceania.
Italy has the most cardinals who can vote, with 17, while the US has 10 and Brazil has seven. The UK has three.
A papal crest dedicated to Pope Pius XII. Pic: Reuters
Once the conclave begins, the cardinals will not emerge from the Vatican until a new pope has been chosen. The word “conclave” comes from Latin, meaning “with key” – a reference to the isolation in which the cardinals are kept.
While holding voting sessions in the Sistine Chapel, they sleep in the Casa Santa Marta – a guesthouse inside the Vatican’s grounds.
The longest conclave lasted almost three years, between 1268 and 1271. Several have lasted only one day. The one which elected Pope John Paul in 1978 lasted less than three days. Cardinals chose Pope Francis in around two days.
While the conclave is ongoing, cardinals are unable to communicate with the outside world. No telephones, internet use or newspapers are allowed.
Except for the first day, when only one ballot is held, the cardinals hold two daily votes until one candidate has a majority of two-thirds plus one. They are sworn to secrecy about the voting.
White smoke?
So how do we know if a decision has been reached? Yes, this is the black smoke, white smoke part.
If the cardinals have not reached a majority, the cards and the tally sheets are placed in a stove and burned with an additive to produce black smoke, showing the outside world that a pope has not yet been chosen.
No pope yet… black smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel. Pic: Reuters
Watching for the tell-tale smoke arising from the top of the Sistine Chapel is a tradition, with Catholics crowding into St Peter’s Square for the spectacle.
If no result has been reached after three days, the sessions are suspended for a day to allow for prayer and discussion. More ballots are held until a two-thirds majority is reached.
When enough cardinals have agreed on a candidate, he is asked if he accepts the papacy and by which name he wishes to be known.
The ballots are burned as before, but with an additive to produce white smoke.
A Papal white skull cap. Pic: Reuters
New pope proclaimed
The new pope then dons his new papal vestments – tailors keep large, medium and small sizes ready – and sits on a throne in the Sistine Chapel to receive the other cardinals who file up to pay homage and swear obedience to the church’s new leader.
The senior cardinal deacon then steps out on to the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica overlooking the square and announces in Latin: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam” (I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope) and reveals the cardinal’s name and the name he has chosen.
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The new pope then appears on the balcony to deliver his first public pontifical greeting and bless the crowds in St Peter’s Square.
A few days later, he celebrates a mass that marks the beginning of his papal ministry.
When Canada goes to the polls today, it might be the second election Donald Trump wins in six months.
The US president has transformed Canada’s political landscape, and the “Trump effect” looks like it will be the difference between winners and losers.
Tariffs, and his threat to annexe the country as the 51st state, have provoked a surge in Canadian nationalism, and it’s made a favourite of the candidate styled anti-Trump.
Step forward, Mark Carney: Former governor of the Bank of England, now Canadian prime minister.
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‘Canada will win’
His ruling Liberal party had been written off as an electoral contender. Canadians had turned their back on the party after a decade in power under Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau.
The opposition Conservative Party, under the effective leadership of Pierre Poilievre, grew to a 25-point lead in the polls on the promise of change on the economy, crime and a chronic housing crisis.
However, his conservative politics are more aligned with the neighbour in the White House and, in Canada right now, it’s not a good look.
Read more: Everything you need to know about the election
Pierre Poilievre led the Conservatives to a 25-point lead before Trudeau stepped down. Pic: Reuters
In a stunning reversal of fortune, the Conservative Party’s lead vanished within weeks, as Canadians turned to Carney as the choice to take on Trump.
If he wins, the swing from Conservative to Liberal will be the biggest swing in the polls in recent democratic history.
Carney, 60, is the former governor of the Bank of Canada, as well as England. He replaced Mr Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and Canadian prime minister after his predecessor stepped down last month.
Polls indicate that Canadians see Carney as a stronger choice to negotiate with Donald Trump. He is a veteran of economic turmoil, having dealt with the 2008 financial crisis and Brexit.
Pierre Poilievre and Mark Carney after an English-language leaders’ debate in Montreal. Pic: Reuters
At a weekend news conference, Sky News asked the Canadian prime minister what lessons he’d learned from Brexit that could be applied to his dealings with Donald Trump.
He replied: “The lessons of Brexit are beginning to be applied. When you break off, or substantially rupture, trading relationships with your major trading partners, including the most important trading partner of the United States, you end up with slower growth, higher inflation, higher interest rates, volatility, weaker currency, a weaker economy.
“We’re in the early stages of that in the United States, and that’s one of the important things here. With respect to influencing the president, with respect to the dynamics of a negotiation, America’s going to get weaker as time goes on, we’re going to get stronger.”
Canada’s vote is as close as it gets to a single-issue election.
Carney’s position as favourite is reinforced consistently by the opinion polls, although the gap narrowed as election day approached.
It could yet be tight.
World
Trump ‘very disappointed’ in Russian strikes on Ukraine and calls for Putin to ‘sit down and sign a deal’
Donald Trump has said he’s “very disappointed” with Russia as he continues to push for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.
On Saturday, the US president met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican for their first face-to-face meeting since their explosive White House summit.
The Ukrainian president said the meeting ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral could end up being “historic.” Hours later, Mr Trump questioned Vladimir Putin’s appetite for peace in a Truth Social post.
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From Saturday: Trump meets Zelenskyy at funeral
Speaking before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, Mr Trump again said the meeting went well, and that the Ukrainian leader was “calmer”.
“I think he understands the picture, I think he wants to make a deal,” he said, before turning to Mr Putin and Russia.
“I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal,” the US president said, adding he was “very disappointed that they did the bombing of those places (including Kyiv, where nine people were killed in a Russian airstrike on Friday) after discussions”.
However, Mr Trump said he thinks Mr Zelenskyy is ready to give up Crimea, which the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly said he would refuse to do.
He added that “we’ll see what happens in the next few days” and said “don’t talk to me about Crimea, talk to Obama and Biden about Crimea”.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, while Barack Obama was president.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Sky’s US partner network NBC News that a peace deal to end the war was “closer in general than they’ve been any time in the last three years, but it’s still not there”.
“If this was an easy war to end, it would have been ended by someone else a long time ago,” he added on the Meet the Press show.
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It comes after North Korea confirmed it had deployed troops to fight for Russia, months after Ukraine and Western officials said its forces were in Europe.
State media outlet KCNA reported North Korean soldiers made an “important contribution” to expelling Ukrainian forces from Russian territory, likely to be the Kursk region.
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KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un made the decision to deploy troops to Russia and notified Moscow, and quoted him as saying: “They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland.”
It also quoted the country’s ruling Workers’ Party as saying the end of the battle to liberate Kursk showed the “highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship” between North Korea and Russia.
Last June, Mr Kim and Mr Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty after a state visit – his first to the country in 24 years.
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From June 2024: Putin drives Kim around in luxury limo during state visit
The North Korean leader promised at the time “full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine”.
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