Syrian boy’s death sparks media’s attention

A paramilitary police officer investigates the scene before carrying the lifeless body of Aylan Kurdi, 3, after a number of migrants died and a smaller number were reported missing after boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized, near the Turkish resort of Bodrum. (AP Photo/DHA)

As many Syrian refugee families, Abduallah Kurdi’s family was trying to take shelter in another country, when the wife and the two kids died.

In a rubber raft, they were trying to make their way from Turkey to Greece, when the waves hit the boat, and the two boys, Aylan and Ghalib, met their fate, along with their mother, Rehana, leaving the father to live.

This was an attempt made by the family to flee, after their applications were refused by Canada, when they tried to go there by the help of Abduallah’s sister who’s been living in Vancouver, but when all failed this was their last resort.

The case of this family became immensely recognized around the world, after the body of 3 years old Aylan drifted to the Turkish shores. The photograph has forced Western nations to confront the consequence of a collective failure to help migrants fleeing the Middle East and Africa to Europe in search of hope, opportunity and safety.

Canadian officials were under intense pressure to explain why the Kurdi family was unable to get permission to immigrate legally, despite having relatives there who were willing to support and employ them. So far, the government has only cited incomplete documents, an explanation that has done little to quiet the outrage at home and abroad.

Abduallah said his sister had told Canadian authorities that she would be “responsible for our expenses,” but that “they didn’t agree.”