KIDS DROWN
Babies among 37 in new refugee tragedy
ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPH of another dead child washed up on the cold shore of a Turkish beach emerged Saturday as one more chilling reminder of Europe’s migrant crisis.
The boat carrying the boy from Turkey to Greece struck rocks and capsized at dawn, leaving at least 37 people to drown, among them several babies and young children, officials said.
An image of a young victim, looking almost as if he were sleeping, recalled the shocking photographs of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, lying face down dead on another Turkish beach last year.
Aylan quickly became the intimate human face of the Syrian refugee crisis, forcing many to finally confront the magnitude of the suffering being inflicted in the wartorn country and the treacherous journeys by many to find safety in Europe.
More than 250 people have drowned already this month trying to reach one of Greece’s offshore islands, entry points to the European Union and its uncertain promise of refuge from war and poverty.
“January has been the deadliest month so far for drownings between Turkey and Greece,” Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director at Human Rightsg Watch, , told The Associated Press in an email. “Almost st every day, more e drown on this is dangerous jourrney.”
The boat that capsized Saturday had just launched near r the Aegean resort of Ayvacik on the Turkish coast, en route to the Greek island of Lesbos, barely 5 miles away.
Saim Eskioglu, deputy governor for the coastal Canakkale province that includes Ayvacik, said the boat “hit rocks soon after it left the coast.”
The Turkish coast guard said three ships, a helicopter and a team of divers were searching the partially submerged craft and surrounding seas for more bodies as police on shore placed bodies, some 10 children among them, in black bags. About 75 survivors were taken away in buses, some bound for a local hospital to be treated for hypothermia and other injuries. Others were placed in police custody f for questioning.
A Turkish gove ernment official s said that by late afternoon, rescuers had recove ered bodies tr trapped inside th the wreckage of the 56 56-foot foot boat boat, r raising the death toll to 37. The state-run Anadolu Agency said 39 died.
“There were around 10 children among the dead,” Eskioglu told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “Four of them, unfortunately, were babies about 1 or 2 years old. We are deeply saddened.”
Aylan’s aunt, Tima Kurdi, said she was heartbroken to learn of more children dying in attempting the dangerous journey.
“No parent would put their children in that kind of situation unless what they were escaping from was worse,” she told the AP, speaking from a hair salon she recently opened in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. “We have to stop the war or this won’t stop. Children dying ... No more Aylans dying please. It just breaks my heart.”
Turkey, which has seen an estimated 2.5 million refugees enter the country from Syria, agreed in November to fight smuggling networks and stem the flow of migrants into Europe.
In return, the European Union pledged $3.25 billion to help refugees and ease the crisis.
Turkey says it has started rejecting Syrians arriving without valid visas. It also has agreed to grant work permits to Syrians as an incentive for them to stay put in the country.