ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two Kurdish men from Sulaimani province’s Kalar town were killed in the Dunkirk jungle in northern France, a notorious hub for migrants hoping to reach Britain by boat, sources told Rudaw. The incident occurred on Sunday and resulted in the deaths of Karzan Abdullah and Mohammed Najm. Another Kurdish person, whose identity remains unknown, was injured. Authorities have not confirmed the incident as of the time of writing. “Karzan lived in Germany for more than ten years, but he would go to France and the Dunkirk jungle for work,” Abdullah’s cousin told Rudaw on Monday. Abdullah was a former football player for a club in the Kurdistan Region. Najm was his friend and fellow townsman. Ranj Pishdari, a migrant rights activist in Europe, told Rudaw that “Karzan got into an argument with someone from [Sulaimani’s] Chamchamal [district]. Mohammed Najm wanted to calm Karzan down and take the weapon from him, but at that moment, a bullet accidentally went off and killed Karzan. “When Mohammed realized that Karzan was accidentally killed because of him, he ended his own life with the same weapon at the same location,” Pishdari said. Rudaw English could not independently verify Pishdari’s account of the tragic incident. AFP cited a local police source on Monday as saying that a shooting at a migrant camp in Dunkirk on Sunday left one dead and two people seriously wounded, with no information released about the victims' identities. It remains unclear whether this incident is connected to the one involving the two Kurds. The Dunkirk jungle, located about 235 kilometers north of Paris near the French coast, is a well-known gathering point for migrants attempting to cross to the UK by boat. Many engage in informal trade or smuggling to sustain themselves. In December, a shooting spree in the Dunkirk area killed five people, including two Kurds from Iran’s western Kurdish areas (Rojhelat) who sought to cross the English Channel. Tens of thousands of people from Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, and Iran take on perilous routes out of the country towards Europe on a yearly basis in hopes of escaping the endless crises in their areas, including the lack of employment, political instability, a fragile economy, and rampant corruption. The UK is a popular destination for many, but crossing the English Channel is dangerous and can be deadly.
World03-06-2026Germany-based migrants in 2025 sent nearly $1.7B to regional countries, namely Turkey, Syria: Federal bank
