"Ahmed returns home". Family of an Iraqi still wait for his body

Ahmed Hamid was a 29-year-old citizen of Iraq. He began his trip to Europe in September, through Belarus and Poland. He died in the latter.

In mid-October, we reported that Poland did had not released the body to the family. Moreover, the family was left without any information regarding the man's death.

"We still have no idea what was the cause of Ahmed's death and when we will see the body. Each time we asked about it, we hear: "you must wait, investigation is under way and we cannot release the medical report," Ahmed's sister, Tabarek Hamid, told TVN24 on October 17.

Ahmed was the first fatal victim of the migrant crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border. He travelled with two other Iraqis he had met along the way. He died on September 19 in a forest, near Frącki village in Podlasie region. It was in that place from which his two companions sent the last message to Ahmed's family. They mentioned the location. In that very place, Polish paramedics tried to resuscitate Ahmed.

A prosecutor's office in Suwałki has launched an inquiry into Ahmed's death, but it refused to comment. Wojciech Piktel from the District Prosecutor's Office in Suwałki only said the family should contact the prosecutor in charge.

"Such conduct by the authorities is incorrect. And it certainly should not bypass the family," said Magdalena Zgłobica, a lawyer who contacted Ahmed's family and offered to help pro bono. "One of the basic duties of a prosecutor in such cases is finding and contacting the aggrieved party, which in this case is this family," she said.

After TVN24's intervention, Ahmed's family received unofficial information that his body was to return home the following week. That, however, did not happen. But according to TVN24 reporter, Piotr Czaban, it should happen soon.

As Czaban wrote on Twitter, "Ahmed returns home". The family has received a letter, dated October 29, from the Iraqi Embassy in Warsaw, in which it informs the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Suwałki about the company which has been hired by Ahmed's mother to pick up his body.

The cost of transporting his body to Iraq is 5,000 euros. To cover it, the family has borrowed the money" - Piotr Czaban said on Twitter.

Asked on Tuesday by TVN24 for a comment, spokesman for the District Prosecutor's Office in Suwałki, Wojciech Piktel, referred us back to a statement issued on October 20. He added that if anything changed, the prosecutor's office would issue a new statement.

According to the previous statement, the bodies (as it pertains also to three other foreigners) would be released immediately once all the necessary examination regarding the cause of death has been completed.