On a heat Might night, Touqeer Pervez packed two pairs of trousers, three shirts, a toothbrush and toothpaste right into a small black backpack. The lanky 28-year-old with a neatly trimmed beard was on the brink of depart Bandli, his village in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on a three-country journey that might see him travelling throughout land, air and sea within the hope of reaching Italy.
His household’s unfinished home, partly roofless and with partitions needing plaster, was bursting with chatter and laughter. Relations and buddies sat underneath the open sky within the veranda, as a pedestal fan desperately tried, however failed, to beat the humidity within the air.
As they cracked jokes, Haseeb, the youngest of Touqeer’s siblings, reminded his brother that in Italy, he would battle to indulge his favorite pastime, enjoying cricket.
But amid the banter, Touqeer’s nervous mom Tazeen was nonetheless attempting to persuade her son towards leaving. Her eldest son Tanweer had already left for the United Arab Emirates to seek out work in January, and Tazeen was not able to let go of her second, and most beloved, son.
Touqeer, nonetheless, was calm and adamant.
“If I die, I will die, but if I succeed and reach Italy, at least I could help our family. Let me go please,” he pleaded together with his mom.
The following morning, on Might 5, Touqeer and some different village residents left on a 150km (93-mile) bus trip to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, the place they caught a flight to the southern metropolis of Karachi. The following leg took them to Dubai, from the place they jumped on a connecting flight to Cairo, and ultimately made their solution to Libya on Might 7.
Italy, simply throughout the Mediterranean Sea, gave the impression to be virtually inside touching distance.
