The horror of the human tragedy unfolding on the coast of Europe took home on Wednesday because the images of the body of a child – one of at least 12 Syrians who drowned trying to reach the Greek island of Kos – encapsulated refugees extraordinary risks being taken to reach the West.
The image, taken on Wednesday morning, represents the dark-haired boy, wearing a shirt and shorts bright red, stranded on a beach, lying face down in the surf not far from fashionable Turkish resort town of Bodrum.
A second picture portrays a grim-faced police carrying away small body. Within hours it had gone viral become the image upper trend on Twitter under the hashtag #KiyiyaVuranInsanlik (humanity ashore).
Turkish media identified the boy about three years old, Aylan Kurdi said his brother and five-year-old had also found a similar death. According to reports, both had hailed from the northern Syrian town of Kobani, the site of fierce fighting between Islamic insurgents and government Kurdish forces earlier this year.
Justin Forsyth, CEO of Save the Children, said: “This tragic image of a child who has lost his life fleeing Syria is shocking and is a reminder of the dangers children and families are taking in search of a better life . Difficult situation of this child should concentrate the mind and the EU force to meet and agree on a plan to deal with the refugee crisis. ”
Greek authorities, to deal with what has become the largest migration crisis in living memory, said the boy was among a group of refugees fleeing Islamic state in Syria.
Turkish officials, confirming the reports, said 12 people died after two boats with a total of 23 people, overturned after leaving separately Akyarlar area of the Bodrum peninsula. Among the dead were five children and a woman. Seven other people were rescued and two came ashore in lifejackets but hopes faded of saving the two people still missing.
The victims were among thousands of people, mostly Syrians fleeing the war and the brutal occupation by the Islamic fundamentalists in his homeland.
Kos, facing the Aegean coast of Turkey, has become a magnet for people determined to reach Europe. An estimated 2,500 refugees from Syria also believes that, Lesbos landed on Wednesday in what local officials described as more than 60 boats and other unseaworthy “” boats.
Some 15,000 refugees are in Lesbos awaiting passage by cruise ship in the port of Piraeus in Athens before continuing their journey north to Macedonia and Serbia via Hungary and Germany.
“The situation on the islands is dramatic in terms of the enormous amount flowing in, homelessness and worsening hygienic conditions,” Ketty Kehayioy, UNHCR spokeswoman in Athens told The Guardian. “The lack of personnel to carry out searches is creating huge bottlenecks in Lesbos and Kos, which is further aggravating substandard conditions, conditions worsened themselves by the very limited facilities.”
And volunteers from local NGOs working around the clock to support the inadequate state services now stretched to the breaking point, described the situation as “absolutely overwhelming.”
Wednesday’s dead were part of a grim toll of some 2,500 people have died this summer trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, the agency of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
Athens provisional government, in power until elections are held on September 20 announced emergency measures to facilitate the flow after meeting in emergency session under the Prime Minister Thanou Vassiliki.