(By Faris al-Rifai; Translation by Yusra Ahmed
Syrian people trying to cross the sea to Europe have started taking cautions to protect them during their deadly trip in sea to from Turkey to Europe.
In Aksaray area in Istanbul, Zaman al-Wasl met Mustafa, a young man from Homs who was busy flipping life vests to choose one himself and others for his family to protect them from drowning during their risky trip via sea to Europe.
Mustafa mentioned that many shops specialized in selling different types of life jackets with wide range of prices spread in Aksaray and Izmir. He mentioned that prices of a life jacket range between 40 -140 Turkish Liras, and the best is the oil workers’ jackets because they can keep the user longer period in water, but in the same time they are the most expensive at 140 Turkish Liras.
Mustafa explained that most people who travel in sea do not use the life Jackets because they are not aware of that, or even if they choose ones, they choose bad quality because they do not have enough experience in them, or because they cannot afford for good quality vests.
Issa Shakfeh, a photographer had pictured many of the life vests in shops of Aksaray. He highlighted that the area had become like a gathering for Arabs, and the Arabic Language was the most used one in the area. Many nationalities can be seen in the area like Iraqi, and others, but the Syrians comprised the highest numbers.
Shakfeh could not confirm if there was higher demand on life vests, but he expected that their trade had flourished, as he noticed increase in their number, types and quality, as some of them were for children, infants and even pregnant.
Doctors Without Borders has sent messages to Switzerland, Norway, Macedonia, Serbia and the Head of European Commission and attached them with life vests of a migrant was rescued from drowning by the organisation.
One the messages was published on the Facebook page of "Doctors without borders" said: “this bad quality life vest is the only safety device men, women and children have when they try to cross the sea to Europe, many times we find handwritten prayers wishing a safe journey, or contact numbers for people to contact in case the vest’s user was not rescued”.
The organisation ended the message: “We say this to remind you that people who do these trips are well aware of the risks they will face, but the case of complete despair is what drives them to expose themselves and their families to such risks”
Zaman Al Wasl
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