They set sail with dreams and met disaster: Stories from the ill-fated migrant ship

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/06/27/ [login to see] /they-set-sail-with-dreams-and-met-disaster-stories-from-the-ill-fated-migrant-sh
When Muhammad Aslam sold his house in Gujranwala, Pakistan, to finance smuggler fees for his two grown sons, he imagined it would pay off when they landed safely on the shores of Europe.

Aslam's sons, Qasim, 36, and Munir, 24, along with two other male relatives, informed their family the trip for the group of four would cost around 10 million rupees, nearly $35,000. They would depart in early May from Noor Jamal – the village where they had moved after selling their house in Gujranwala. They'd drive to Lahore, Punjab's largest city — flying from there to Dubai and then on to Libya, where they'd get on a boat headed to Italy.

As they prepared to depart, the men were excited about the prospect of leaving their area in rural Punjab — a cluster of mud-walled houses on the edge of agricultural land where their family members work as contract farmers. Once they made it to Europe, they planned to find jobs as laborers. They expected to earn enough money to cover their living expenses and send funds home to support their wives and children as well as an extended family of around 40 people.