ANKARA, Turkey — A boat carrying Syrians attempting the short sea journey from Turkey to Greece struck rocks and capsized at dawn on Saturday, causing at least 37 people to drown, among them several babies and young children.
Images of dead children on a beach on Saturday were another soul-searing reminder that Europe’s migrant crisis keeps destroying lives and families by the day.
They recalled the photo of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying face down on a Turkish beach last year. His story put an intimate face on the Syrian refugee crisis for people across the world, prompting many to finally grapple with the magnitude of the suffering caused by the war in the Middle East and the treacherous journeys many risk seeking shelter in Europe.
By contrast, the heartbreaking images Saturday met a muted response, perhaps a sign that many have grown weary of the unending reports about the suffering of migrants even though the number of people dying at sea is rising.
“January has been the deadliest month so far for drownings between Turkey and Greece,” Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, told The Associated Press in an email. “Almost every day, more drown on this dangerous journey.”
“It is deeply disturbing that after all those solemn pledges when Aylan Kurdi drowned, these latest drownings were barely mentioned in the media,” added Bouckaert, who played a crucial role in giving wide circulation on Twitter to the images of Kurdi last year. “We have chosen to look away.”
Tima Kurdi , the Kurdi’s aunt, said she is heartbroken to know that children continue to die as her nephew did.
“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.
“The image of my nephew Alan Kurdi was really powerful. People started to look at the crisis. But now, another boy and another boy and another boy are drowned,” she said. “I wish the world would not forget my nephew and his tragedy. We have to stop the war or this won’t stop.”
More than 250 migrants have drowned already this month trying to reach one of Greece’s offshore islands.
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