‘HUMANITY WASHED ASHORE’ … A Turkish security official cradles Aylan Kurdi in the coastal town of Bodrum in Turkey. A photo of Aylan’s body lying face down on the shore, which we are not running, has become the new face of the migrant crisis of Europe. The three-year-old Syrian refugee boy had drowned when his family attempted a risky boat journey to the Greek island of Kos.
Surviving family members of Aylan Kurdi have revealed how the Syrian three-year-old came to be washed up dead on a beach in Turkey.
Aylan’s distraught father, Abdullah Kurdi, tried and failed to hold on to his wife and two sons after their boat to the Greek island of Kos capsized. He has reportedly now said his only wish is to return their bodies to their home town of Kobani and then “be buried alongside them”.
The family had been making the treacherous journey across Turkey to Europe in the hope of joining Abdullah’s sister, Teema Kurdi, a hairdresser who has lived in Vancouver, Canada for more than 20 years.
Speaking to Terry Glavin of Canada’s National Post, Kurdi said she had learned of Aylan’s death, as well as that of his brother Galip and mother Rihan, at 5:00am on Wednesday. The images of Aylan emerged in Turkish media at around midday, and have since sparked international outrage over the refugee crisis.
Glavin told BBC Radio 5 live yesterday that Kurdi had heard from family members about Abdullah’s desperate battle to save his family in the sea.
“There’s a terrible story he told about swimming from one to the other, finding one [son] who seemed to be alright and then going to another, finding him drowned … and then going back to the first boy and finding him drowned,” he said.
“He made it, but his wife didn’t.”
The BBC’s Fergal Keane has spoken to Abdullah at the mortuary in Turkey where the bodies were taken.
“I just want to see my children for the last time and stay forever with them,” Abdullah said.
The Turkish government has reportedly said it will repatriate the bodies to Kobani. Officials said the family’s name was in fact Shenu, though Kurdi was widely used in Turkish media.
Jenan Moussa, a journalist with Dubai’s Al Aan TV, said she had confirmed with sources in Kobani that the Kurdish family hailed from the recently-embattled Syrian city.
She said Abdullah was a barber originally from Damascus, who fled from Kobani to Turkey but “dreamed of a future in Canada” for his family.
“Abdullah paid €4000 (£2900) for his family to get on a 5m-long dinghy from Bodrum to Greece. He borrowed money. This was not their first attempt to get to Greece.
After he lost his family, Mr. Abdullah stayed 3 hrs in the sea b4 getting rescued by Greek coast guard. He’s devastated. #AylanKurdi @akhbar
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) September 3, 2015
“When in the dinghy, the sea got rough. Turkish smuggler abandoned boat, left passengers struggling. Boat capsized after one hour.
“After it capsized, the family clung to the boat. Mr Abdullah tried to hold his two children and wife with his arm, but one by one they were washed away by waves.”
HIS LIFE WAS FULL OF FEAR
There are no beaches in Kobani, just bombs. From the Syrian town besieged by Isis, Aylan Kurdi and his brother fled. For the three short years of his life, Aylan had apparently only known fear.
Europe, and the sanctuary it can offer those fleeing Syria’s civil war, was the goal of Aylan’s family. After travelling several hundred miles through Turkey, eventually the time came for Aylan to cross the two short miles on the Aegean Sea to the Greek island of Kos. Thousands of others have made similar crossings – it is considered less fraught with danger than other refugee routes.
Source: The Daily Star
