Kurdish migrants mourn 2-year old daughter shot and killed by Belgian police

A family from Iraqi Kurdistan held a funeral on Wednesday for their two-year-old daughter Mawda, who was killed by Belgian police.

Two weeks ago, Mawda was shot in the face while sitting on her mother's lap in a van carrying migrants through Belgium. 

Belgian police initially denied any responsibility. But they have since admitted that one of their officers fired the shot that killed the little girl while police were chasing down the alleged smugglers.

This week, Iraq's foreign ministry called for a formal investigation into her death. 

Olivier Stein, the lawyer representing Mawda's parents, spoke with As it Happens host Carol Off from Brussels. Here is part of their conversation. 

Mr. Stein, how are the mother and father of Mawda coping right now?

I know it's very, very difficult for them. The mother is crying all the time. It's a very big shock for the whole family.

The little boy [Mawda's brother] is also under shock. And we have a psychologist taking care of him because it's obvious that he has been traumatized.

But today was the funeral, and there were lots of people coming. So I think it was a great help for the family.

What have the mom and dad told you about how their little girl came to be shot in the head?

They were trying to reach the United Kingdom. They came from France with smugglers that brought 25 to 30 people in the rear of a van. And they were driving on a highway when a police car started chasing the van. 

At first, it was only one car. But the chase lasted for more than one hour. So at the end, the police say it was like 15 cars chasing that van.

They were not able to reach the van. At some point, a police car went directly close to the van. And another family showed their child to the police to let the police know that there were children inside.

At that moment, the police car slowed down. But the chase was still going on — other police cars on [either] side of the van, and two behind.

The government doesn't want us to have this discussion about how in Belgium a policeman can shoot a child and we don't have a proper independent investigation.- Oliver Stein, lawyer for Mawda's family

A policeman says he was trying to shoot the wheel. The parents of Mawda were thinking he was aiming at the driver. So it's not clear.

He decided to shoot. The mother was just behind the driver with Mawda in her arms, and she saw blood at that point.

So we know there was only one bullet, and it came from a policeman. And that bullet killed Mawda.

When the van was stopped, the mother and father were immediately arrested.

Even though Mawda was still alive, she was alone in the ambulance. And it took hours before the mother and father knew that Mawda was dead.

You and others have said that this looks like [the police] were trying to cover this up. What are the questions you have about what happened to this little girl?

The main questions [are] why did the policeman shoot at that point, and what was he aiming for?

It would seem that if police were involved in a high-speed chase with a van full of between 25 and 30 people, with children, that already there was a risk to the safety of everyone in that [vehicle].

In February, in Belgium, there was a similar case in which the police were chasing a van, and they knew there were migrants inside with children.

And at some point they decided that it was not worthwhile — that [they] shouldn't take that much risk. And so they let the van go.

In this situation, some policemen are saying they have so much pressure to arrest migrants that they spend lots of time and energy to arrest those kinds of vans. 

There is a heated debate in Belgium about what should happen with this family, as to whether they should be allowed to stay even beyond this police investigation. 

Why has this become such a heated debate in Belgium?

We have the extreme right in power. In the government, we have the French-speaking right, and the Flemish extreme right.

And the Flemish extreme right are trying to make this a debate about borders or foreigners.

They have said it was the family's fault, because they were taking so much risk trying to cross the border. 

We do not want to go in that debate. We want to have a more calm debate about how things are dealt with in Belgium — not only for foreigners, but how is it possible you cannot have a proper investigation about what the police are doing?

The family [is] from the Kurdish part of Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan. What were they trying to get away from as refugees?

I don't think they want us to go into details about that. We just can say that the situation in Iraq wasn't really a proper situation to raise their child.

Will they be able to stay in the country?

I think so.

I think the government doesn't want us to have this more important discussion about how in Belgium right now a policeman can shoot a child and we don't have a proper independent investigation. That is the question they're trying to avoid.

So they make it look like this big discussion about borders and foreigners. 

But in the end, I think the fact that Mawda is buried here, that we will have a very long trial that will take years and the family must be there, I'm almost sure that at some point they will give them, not certainly a permanent stay, but a legal stay. 

if it's not the case, it will be proof that the prime minister is only a prime minister of the extreme right.

Written by Donya Ziaee and Kevin Ball. Interview produced by Donya Ziaee. Q&A edited for length and clarity.