Drowned Syrian boy's family wanted to seek refuge in Canada

Kim Hjelmgaard | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Shocking image of drowned Syrian boy resonates around the world The shocking image of a drowned Syrian 3-year-old boy named Aylan Kurdi on a Turkish shore resonates around the world.

First we saw the harrowing image that no one wants to see or believe: a small boy, face down in the surf, his clothes and shoes disheveled — dead. Now we know his name and what happened to his family.

The 3-year-old found dead Wednesday along the shores of a Turkish resort town was named Aylan Kurdi. His family was trying to reach the Greek island of Kos when their boat capsized. His brother, Galip, 5, and mother, Rehan, 35, also died. Only the boys' father, Abdullah, survived.

Abdullah Kurdi told the Associated Press on Thursday that the boat's captain panicked and jumped into the sea after encountering high waves. “I took over and started steering. The waves were so high and the boat flipped. I took my wife and my kids in my arms and I realized they were all dead,” he said.

The family are Kurdish Syrians from Kobani, a town near the Turkish border fought over by the Islamic State and Kurdish forces. They were desperately trying to emigrate to Canada, according to the Ottawa Citizen.

They decided not to give up after their attempts were unsuccessful. Like so many people fleeing conflict and economic destitution for the relative safety of Europe this year, it cost them their lives. In a report published Thursday, the United Nations' Human Rights Council estimated over 2,000 Syrians have drowned since 2011 trying to reach Europe.

“My kids were the most beautiful children in the world, wonderful, they wake me up every morning to play with them. They are all gone now,” Abdullah Kurdi told AP.

The Citizen reported Canadian authorities apparently rejected the family's refugee application in June to seek asylum because they were Kurdish Syrians who had spent time in Turkey, and the United Nations would not grant them refugee status while the Turkish government refused to give them exit visas.

The Department of Citizenship and Immigration in Canada, however, said an application for someone named Mohammad Kurdi and his family was received but was "returned as it was incomplete as it did not meet regulatory requirements for proof of refugee status recognition." The agency said it had no record of an application and did not offer citizenship for a person named Abdullah Kurdi. It is unclear whether Mohammad is part of Abdullah Kurdi's full name or another member of his family.

Meanwhile, Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported that Chris Alexander, the country's immigration minister, has temporarily suspended his re-election campaign following the news that the boy's family failed to get asylum in his nation.

"I was trying to sponsor them, and I have my friends and my neighbors who helped me with the bank deposits, but we couldn't get them out, and that is why they went in the boat. I was even paying rent for them in Turkey, but it is horrible the way they treat Syrians there," Teema Kurdi, Abdullah's sister who lives in Vancouver, told the Citizen.

"I heard the news at five o'clock this morning," she told the Citizen after getting a call from her brother. "All he said was, 'My wife and two boys are dead.'"

She said Abdullah's only wish now is to return to Kobani to bury his wife and children, and, chillingly, to later be buried alongside them.

Turkish media said four people smugglers were arrested Thursday in connection with the deaths of Aylan Kurdi and 11 others who drowned attempting to reach Greece by boat.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

USA TODAY does not typically publish graphic images of dead bodies. It decided to use the photo in this story because it illustrates the significant horror of the situation as thousands of migrants risk their lives seeking refuge in Europe. USA TODAY believes the news value of the photo outweighed the usual reluctance to publish such pictures.