An Algerian grandmother now cares for four grandchildren alone after losing both her daughters in circumstances tied to a perilous sea crossing to Europe.
Zahia, from the coastal city of Bou Ismaïl, works as a school cleaner while raising the children. Her family was shattered when her youngest daughter, Feryal, attempted to migrate to Spain with her husband and their two-year-old son in October 2021. The family reportedly paid a significant sum to smugglers for the journey.
Zahia says she was unaware the journey would be illegal, having been told her daughter would travel with official documents. The last communication from Feryal was a photo sent just before the boat departed for the Balearic Islands.
When the vessel disappeared, Zahia’s other daughter, Siham, began a desperate search. With little official assistance available to families of missing migrants, she turned to activists and social media for information. The search led to a traumatic discovery when Siham was sent graphic post-mortem photographs of her sister through unofficial channels.
Authorities later confirmed the identity of one body found on a Spanish island as Feryal, but the repatriation process took over a year. The emotional toll of seeing the images and the protracted search proved devastating for Siham, who took her own life last year.
Zahia now blames both the smugglers who organize the dangerous crossings and those who exploit grieving families. The bodies of her son-in-law and grandson have never been recovered. She reflects that her daughter had intended to file legal complaints against those who manipulated her during the search but died before she could do so.
