The father of Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian boy who drowned as his family tried to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, made a desperate plea for compassion for refugees in a resurfaced video.
A harrowing photograph of Aylan lying face down after his lifeless body washed up on a Turkish beach on 2 September 2015 was widely circulated, prompting an outpouring of concern for the Syrian refugee crisis.
Aylan and his family travelled from Turkey to Europe in hopes of claiming asylum in Vancouver, Canada. The boat capsized on the way to the Greek island of Kos; Aylan, his five-year-old brother Ghalib, and mother Rehanna died.
Speaking in 2020, Aylan’s father Abdullah said: “Europe started caring about refugees and opened its doors.
“But unfortunately it was for a very short time, maybe for a month or two, and then they closed the doors again.”
