Think about the best escape stories. Maybe your mind goes to The Great Escape or Escape from Alcatraz, but if we’re talking about making a break for it in real life, Abu Dakha’s story might be the best I’ve ever heard.
Dakha set out on a mission to escape from Gaza, Palestine, after his home and business were destroyed. The 31-year-old set off in April 2024, paying $5,000 to cross the border into Egypt, hoping to find Asylum in China, but was refused. Undeterred, he made his way to Libya and set his sights on Europe. Unfortunately, Dakha’s escape was about to get a lot more troublesome.
Many asylum seekers who make it to Libya are routinely abused or scammed by traffickers, and after 10 failed crossing attempts to Italy, Dakha took matters into his own hands. He bought a Yamaha personal watercraft (PWC) for $5,000 and spent a further $1,500 on a GPS unit, satellite phone, and lifejackets for the other two Palestinian men who joined him on the PWC. After testing the PWC’s range, Dakha calculated how much fuel he’d need to reach Italy, and figured out how to carry it all.
Then, the trio set off.
Photo by: Reuters
After 12 straight hours of riding and covering between 160-180 nautical miles, Dakha and the crew ran out of fuel just 12 miles from the coast of Lampedusa, the southernmost island of Italy. But Dakha’s journey didn’t end there; if anything, it was just beginning. The trio was rescued by a Romanian patrol boat, which brought them to Lampedusa’s migrant center. Then, they were put on a bus transfer from Sicily to Genoa, from which they escaped before hiding in the bushes for hours.
Determined not to have gotten so far in vain, Dakha showed Reuters a plane ticket, which brought him from Genoa to Brussels, and from there, he took a train to Germany, where a relative met him. The three Palestinians are now in what they hope is the final part of their asylum-seeking journey, and have applied for asylum in Germany, but haven’t gotten a date for a court hearing at the time of writing.
Dakha is staying at a center for asylum seekers in Germany; however, Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees declined to comment on his case when asked by Reuters, citing privacy reasons. Dakha’s hope is to win asylum in Germany and bring over his wife and two children from Palestine. More than one year later, Dakha’s escape is ongoing.
