The final moments of a teenage migrant have been captured on video, showing him sitting with friends and smiling just hours before he tragically drowned.
Obada Abd Rabbo, 14, attempted to cross the English Channel on January 14 this year after he reportedly had second thoughts about the journey and worried that he couldn’t swim.
The teenager and his older brother, Ayser, 24, were among five people who drowned just 11 yards from the shore on the coast of northern France.
They were the first to die while attempting to cross the UK in a small boat in 2024.
Obada’s final night alive has been shown in footage uncovered by the BBC.
The teenager is seen huddled around a fire with a group of people in a makeshift camp in Calais, under a canal bridge.
Obada Abd Rabbo, 14, is seen smiling as he huddles around a campfire in Calais
![The teenager and his brother were among five to drown this year after attempting to cross the Channel](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/29/21/80604345-13020587-The_teenager_and_his_brother_were_among_five_to_drown_this_year_-a-2_1706564177943.jpg)
The teenager and his brother were among five to drown this year after attempting to cross the Channel
![Obada Abd Rabbo, 14 (pictured), was having doubts before he attempted to make the journey across the English Channel to the UK, his family revealed](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/29/21/80581015-13020587-Obada_Abd_Rabbo_14_pictured_was_having_doubts_before_he_attempte-a-1_1706564177875.jpg)
Obada Abd Rabbo, 14 (pictured), was having doubts before he attempted to make the journey across the English Channel to the UK, his family revealed
He is seen wearing a dark knitted hat and blue scarf, grinning and holding up two fingers to the camera.
A French charity said Obada was offered shelter as a minor but he said he wanted to stay with his brother.
The organisation, which is not being named due to the sensitivity of its work, was also in contact with two other teenage boys who would go on board the same boat that Obada tried to take.
Also, the charity said smugglers in Calais prevented some of these other boys from ‘deciding for themselves’ and they also felt ‘pressure from their families’ to take the perilous journey.
A representative from the charity, speaking about one of the other boys, told the BBC: ‘He phoned us to tell us he was afraid.
‘He told us that it was his parents who forced him to attempt the crossing.’
More than 60 people scrambled into the sea trying to get on the inflatable boat, only to be faced with a steep drop into deep water.
Obada and Ayser found they were out of their depth and were thrashing around the cold sea.
The water was around 7C and the temperature that night was only just above freezing.
In the dark, people couldn’t see where Obada or Ayser were and they were pulled under the water.
It was the third time since leaving Syria nine months earlier that the two brothers had headed out to sea.
Each time, Obada said he was scared, didn’t know how to swim and was unsure about the journey.
![Obada (front) and his older brother Ayser (behind) both drowned just 11 yards from the slipway off the coast of northern France, on Sunday, January 14](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/29/21/80581009-13020587-Obada_front_and_his_older_brother_Ayser_behind_both_drowned_just-a-3_1706564177945.jpg)
Obada (front) and his older brother Ayser (behind) both drowned just 11 yards from the slipway off the coast of northern France, on Sunday, January 14
![A map detailing Obada's journey from when he initially left Syria in May 2023 to when he attempted to cross the English Channel in January 2024](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/29/21/80581029-13020587-A_map_detailing_Obada_s_journey_from_when_he_initially_left_Syri-a-4_1706564177947.jpg)
A map detailing Obada’s journey from when he initially left Syria in May 2023 to when he attempted to cross the English Channel in January 2024
Speaking to the BBC, Obada’s brother Nada — who successfully made the crossing in 2022— admitted he felt guilty about encouraging his younger brother to also make the trip.
It is understood that Obada’s mother and father, Abu and Um Ayesar, had planned to join him in the UK and might have pressured him to travel. Mr Ayesar had health complications and it was hoped that he might be able to have treatment here.
However, as a minor, Obada would not have legally been in a position to arrange for his parents to follow him, particularly as he already has a brother living in England.
Nada, who was a law student at Damascus University, had decided to travel to England because of the conflict in Syria and to avoid being conscripted into the military.
He told the BBC: ‘It was not safe. You go to the army and stay 10 years. You need to kill, or you die. We don’t want this.’
Nada told his brothers at home in Daraa, to join him, saying ‘you can make a new life here’ and ‘you’re young, you can study here’.
Obada attended school in Syria and his brothers, who thought he was ‘very clever’, had hoped that he would want to become a doctor.
He was a keen football player and had spoken to his brother about watching Manchester City play in England.
Obada was just 13 when he and his brother Ayser boarded a plane from Damascus in Syria to Libya in May last year.
Obada was determined to get to the UK, perhaps not fully understanding the risks involved, according to the BBC.
In October 2023, the brothers attempted to cross the Mediterranean in a smuggler’s boat, but they were captured and detained in Tunisia before being taken back to Libya.
In December, the brothers tried again and were rescued by a coastguard and taken to Lampedusa. From there, they were taken to Italy where they boarded a train to Paris.
Obada’s parents in Daraa sent the BBC a heartbreaking video requesting to see their children ‘for the very last time’.
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