It’s often said that a picture can speak 1,000 words and in the case of little Aylan Kurdi, those 1,000 words spoke a tale of desperation ending in devastation.
The picture of the lifeless three-year-old little boy washed ashore a Turkish beach were widely disseminated last week and fully brought home the horror of the Syrian war to the attention of a world that would sometimes rather turn its head than face the cries for help from a distant nation.
Turkish officials said that 12 people died after two boats carrying a total of 23 people capsized, including Aylan, his five-year-old brother, and his mother, as they tried to make the dangerous journey from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos. They were three among 2,500 refugees who have died this summer attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
Bringing this story to home was the fact that Aylan’s aunt, who lives in B.C., said she had been trying to help the family resettle in Canada, with their area MP saying he had personally delivered a letter to the Conservative Immigration Minister Chris Alexander in March, asking him to grant Aylan’s family refugee status.
While some were quick to grab the opportunity to lambast Alexander, blaming him for the tragedy, Aylan’s death should not be a political tool or used as a way to embarrass government officials in the midst of an election campaign, but as an imperative not to drag our feet on dealing with the ongoing Syrian war.
Currently, according to Alexander, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has set a target for Canada to accept 23,000 Iraqi and 11,300 Syrian refugees. Of that number, Canada has already resettled nearly 22,000 Iraqis and 2,300 Syrians. Pressure is on developed nations such as the UK and Canada to accept more refugees, but this could very well worsen the crisis and chaos as criminal gangs persuade more people to undertake the risky journey across the seas to mainland Europe.
The imperative now is to find a political solution within Syria, new forms of government and stability in the Middle East, and work to end to the Islamic State of Levant (ISIL), as is underway. It is the only answer to the heights of desperation that would lead parents to risk their own and their children’s lives on the dangerous seas, with the heartache of their failures immeasurable. Looking at Aylan’s limp body in the sand, his vivid red shirt and blue pants, we can’t fail to be moved, but we must also not fail to act to stop this tragedy from playing out again and again.
