His name was Aylan. He was 3 years old, from war-torn Syria. His final journey was supposed to end in sanctuary in Europe; instead it claimed his life and highlighted the plight of desperate people caught in the gravest refugee crisis since World War II.
The images of the toddler’s lifeless body on a Turkish beach have reverberated across the globe, stirring public outrage and embarrassing political leaders as far away as Canada, where authorities had rejected an asylum application from the boy’s relatives.
The child pictured face-down in red T-shirt and shorts was identified as Aylan Kurdi, a Syrian Kurd from Kobani, a town near the Turkish border that has witnessed months of heavy fighting between Islamic State and Syrian Kurdish forces.
He drowned after the 15-foot boat ferrying him from the Turkish beach resort of Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos capsized shortly before dawn on Wednesday, killing 12 passengers. Aylan’s 5-year-old brother, Galip, and his mother, Rehan, were also among the dead. His father, Abdullah, was the only family member to survive.
In 2015 alone, more than 2000 migrants have dead taking the perilous journey to Europe in search of sanctuary. Its high time the world leaders especially the western nations and the Arab League stop speaking with the sides of their mouth and take a decision action on the myriad problems bedevilling the Middle-East. The Syrian crisis has festered for so long because the world has failed to find a pragmatic solution.
The much celebrated ‘Arab Spring’ that the world assumed will redefined the Arab world is indeed a tragedy, or should i call, ‘Winter Doom’. From Libya, to Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, the centres cannot hold and turmoil is the order of the day. The lack of popular government has strengthen terrorist organizations such as ISIS. The United Nations must find a way to reconcile United States and its Allies with Russia and China so that the world can act decisively on the imminent and present dangers facing the world today. The world powers are working at cross purposes when they ought to formulated a unified approach.
Europe symbolizes hope and new beginning, this such not be taking away from those fleeing war, unrest, persecution or even economic migrants. Otherwise, we are doomed.
