Warning: This story includes a graphic image of a dead child, below.

When Tima Kurdi tried to sponsor her brother Mohammed Kurdi and his family to come to Canada as refugees, she found herself mired in a Catch-22 of red tape and bureaucratize.

In a pleading letter obtained by the Star dated March 17, Kurdi begged Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander to allow them (and not her other brother Abdullah, the father of the two drowned Syrian boys) to come to Canada as refugees.

The letter was delivered by NDP MP Fin Donnelly.

While the brother is not named in the letter, an official in Donnelly's office confirmed that Kurdi specified in an attachment to the letter that she and her family were sponsoring Mohammed and his family, but that the attachment does go over the family histories of both Mohammed and Abdullah.

The attachment tells of the family's journey from Damascus to Istanbul, including an encounter with Syrian rebels.

The official said Donnelly also followed up with Alexander in April, "seeking any opportunity" to bring the brothers and their families to Canada.

Tima Kurdi planned to apply for Abdullah and his family once Mohammed was approved, but it never happened.

In her letter, Kurdi expresses her difficulty in completing and submitting the appropriate documentation for Syrians currently residing in Turkey.

“Their situation has become desperate,” she wrote.

But in order to be accepted as a refugee in Canada, Kurdi learned, her brother would need documents — like a Syrian passport — that were “impossible” to get.

“Canada is requiring them to return to their war infested homes, obtain the appropriate documents, and re-enter Turkey legally. This is not a possible alternative for them,” she wrote.

"Based on the above information, it is impossible to get the family out of Turkey," Kurdi writes.

"Since their arrival in Turkey, their life has been very tenuous...

Mohamad had fled to Turkey from Syria. But as a Kurd, he faced persecution in Turkey, she said, and wanted to be reunited with his sister in Canada.

Abdullah’s wife Rehan Kurdi and his sons Alan and Ghalib, were among 12 migrants who drowned when two boats carrying them from the Turkish coast to the Greek island of Kos capsized. Abdullah survived.

A photograph of the Alan dead in the arms of a Turkish police officer has brought the issue of Canada’s refugee policy to a head.

News of the tragedy derailed Conservative election campaign events Thursday after erroneous reports said that it was Abdullah’s family, and not Mohamad’s, who had been denied refugee status in Canada.

Kurdi clarified her family’s plight for refugee status at a second press conference at her home in B.C. Thursday afternoon.

Dressed in black and fighting back tears, she told reporters that she hoped her family’s tragedy would be a “wake up call” to the world.

“I want to tell the rest of the world, at this point, to step in and help the refugees,” she said.

Defence Minister Jason Kenney cancelled a security-related immigration announcement; Harper delayed an infrastructure announcement.

Immigration Minister Chris Alexander dropped campaign plans to rush to Ottawa and “ascertain both the facts of the case of the Kurdi family and to receive an update on the migrant crisis,” he said in an emailed statement.

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Alexander told CBC television on Thursday that he had received Kurdi’s letter and that he had “noted that there was urgency” to it but he didn’t interfere in the application process.

“I have a responsibility as a minister not to be personally involved in decisions,” he said, “to ensure that they are all treated equally.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada’s refugee policy isn’t enough to stop the tragic deaths of refugees in Europe.

“We could drive ourselves crazy with grief, obviously we try to do what we can do to help,” Harper said.

Speaking at a Conservative rally in Surrey, B.C., Harper addressed the “heartwrenching” photo of Alan, dead in the arms of a police officer on Turkish shores.

“I think our reaction to that, the first thing that crossed our mind was remembering our son Ben at that age,” Harper said.

“It brings tears to our eye,” he said. “It truly is a heartbreaking situation and a terrible tragedy.”

Harper emphasized Canada’s military campaign against the Islamic State as key to help stop the refugee crisis, and dismissed the other parties’ unwillingness to engage in the military coalition fighting the Islamic State the Middle East.

“I don’t know how you look at these images and say we should walk away and let those people be killed because we don’t want to participate in a military engagement. I think that is completely irresponsible. Our reaction is we are doing everything. We need to do more, we will do more on every front.”

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair became particularly emotional at a news conference Thursday. “The international community has failed,” he said. “Canada has failed.”

Related: Refugee crisis dominates election campaign

Speaking in Montreal Thursday morning, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau criticized the Conservatives’ response. “You don’t get to suddenly discover compassion in the middle of an election campaign,” Trudeau said. He said if elected, the Liberals would bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada.

Mulcair said Canada and the international community have failed. “It’s just unbearable that we’re doing nothing. Canada has an obligation to act,” Mulcair said.

He called on Ottawa to immediately take in 10,000 Syrian refugees, as he said the UN has asked Canada to do, and “act now.”

Conservative campaign spokesman Kory Teneycke rejected the idea that 10,000 Syrian refugees could be “immediately” admitted, as suggested Thursday by the NDP.

Alexander, the citizenship and immigration minister who is running for re-election in the Ajax riding, defended the Conservative government in his statement Thursday.

“Canada has one of the most generous per capita immigration and refugee settlement programs in the world. In fact, Canada resettles more than one in 10 refugees worldwide.”

He said the Conservatives have set a target for Canada to accept 11,300 Syrians, and has resettled 2,300 so far.

“The Prime Minister also recently announced that a Conservative Government would add an additional 10,000 persecuted ethnic and religious minorities from the region,” Alexander said.

— With files from Robin Levinson King, Ben Spurr, The Associated Press and Canadian Press