Winnipeg man identifies with stories of refugees fleeing Syria

The photo of a three-year-old Syrian boy who was found dead on a beach this week sent shockwaves around the world and resonated with a Winnipeg man who journeyed to Canada in search of a better life when he was just a young boy.

Rami Elzayat was born in the Middle East but moved to Winnipeg when he was six. His mother's side of the family is from Syria.

"Most of them have left by now, but most of them are in either Turkey or Egypt," says Elzayat.

Despite getting out of Syria alive, Elzayat says family in Egypt still aren't in a great position.

"[The] situation in Egypt isn't much better, so the refugees there are still in pretty bad shape," he says

"They aren't allowed to do certain things and so they were kind of in a situation where they had to find a better life for themselves."

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Turkey, Egypt and several other countries in the area are opening up their borders, but many refugees have their sights set on Europe.

One of Elzayat's relatives and her two kids managed to make the trek all the way to Europe over a year ago "on one of those boats."

"They decided to take one of those boats all the way to Europe to try and find a better life for themselves," says Elzayat.

"Their trip kind of had two parts: they were first taking a boat from Egypt to Libya and then from Libya all the way to Sweden."

Elzayat says the mother and her two kids, who were riding with other families in the same boat, ran into trouble as they arrived in Libya.

"It was dark and night-time, so they had to switch boats at that point so they could get to Europe. They had to make the switch in the weather, get off the boat and walk in water up to their necks," says Elzayat.

"They lost their luggage, their money, by the time they got to the [new] boat…. They were wet, they had no money, no food, nothing left. There was a little bit of food on the boat, but not much."

The family continued on but met more challenges en route to Europe, Elzayat says.

"They started their trek across the ocean to Europe. Midway through their boat ran out of gas. They were just kind of sitting in the water. They tried to eat and drink very little so they didn't have to go to the bathroom," says Elzayat.

Eventually a passing cargo ship approached the group. People aboard at first offered to take them to a port that would then reroute them back to Libya.

"Everyone on their boat refused, because they knew if they went back they would be taken back to their country or to Syria," says Elzayat.

People on the cargo ship reconsidered the deal after seeing the kids and families on board weren't in great shape.

"So they took them," says Elzayat. "They all climbed up on the cargo ship [and] went to an Italian town where they received first-aid."

The trip took the family about a week, Elzayat says. Family in Europe met with the mom and her two kids, gave them money and found someone to take them in.

They have been in Sweden since applying for refugee status a little more than a year ago, Elzayat says.

The stories of his relatives, taken together with the image of the dead boy on the beach, underscore how far Syrians will go to escape the daily bombings and mass death they are surrounded by right now in their home land, Elzayat says.

A rally and candlelight vigil is taking place in Winnipeg Sunday at 7 p.m. at City Hall.