One year after Aylan Kurdi's death, his father says little has changed
Warning: This post contains distressing imagery.
One year after the devastating image of a lifeless three-year-old Syrian boy focussed international attention onto the refugee crisis, his father says nothing much has changed.
Abdullah Kurdi's son Aylan was pictured washed up on Turkish shores after his family tried to make their way across the Mediterranean to Greece in early September 2015.
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Kurdi, who now lives in Iraq, also lost his five-year-old son Galip and his wife Rihan.
He told German newspaper Bild this week he was glad the photo was published to "make clear to people what [has] happened" but feels not enough has been done since.
"Politicians said after the death of my family: never again!" he said.
"Everyone allegedly wanted to do something after the photos that had so moved them. But what is happening now? The dying goes on and nobody's doing anything."
The Kurdi family made the fateful crossing on Sept. 3 last year, hoping to eventually reach relatives in Canada. Young Aylan was pictured on the shore after the boat carrying him, his mother and his brother capsized and he drowned.
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The two Syrian smugglers who offered to take them across the sea were sentenced to four years and two months in prison each by a Turkish court in May.
His photo was published worldwide and sparked universal anger at the circumstances that led to his unnecessary death. Many called for their own governments to do more for refugees.
Kurdi urged anyone thinking about making the kind of journey he attempted to reconsider.
"I'd like to say to the refugees in the refugee camps that they shouldn't make this journey," he said. "The danger is too great. It's not worth it."
Some 2,510 people are thought to have perished in the Mediterranean in the first five months of 2016 alone, the UNHCR says. That number is way up from the 1,855 that died in the same period in 2015.
Abdullah's sister, Tima Kurdi, who lives in Canada, posted on her Facebook page ahead of the anniversary. "Please keep Alan and all those who died for the chance of freedom from the shackles of war in our daily prayers," she wrote. "We must never forget the price for freedom."
Additional reporting by the Associated Press.
Tim Chester was Senior Editor, Real Time News in Los Angeles. Before that he was Deputy Editor of Mashable UK in London. Prior to joining Mashable, Tim was a Senior Web Editor at Penguin Random House, helping to relaunch the Rough Guides website and other travel brands. He was also a writer for Buzzfeed, GQ and The Sunday Times, covering everything from culture to tech and current affairs. Before that, he was Deputy Editor at NME.COM, overseeing content and development on the London-based music and entertainment site. Tim loves music and travel and has combined these two passions at festivals from Iceland to Malawi and beyond.
