‘If these images don’t change Europe, what will?’

Heart-rending pictures of a toddler’s lifeless body washed ashore on a Turkish beach sparked horror as the cost of Europe’s burgeoning refugee crisis hit home.

The images of a tiny child lying face down in the surf at one of Turkey’s main tourist resorts has once more put a human face on the dangers faced by tens of thousands of desperate people who risk life and limb to seek a new life in Europe.

Wearing a red t-shirt and blue shorts, 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi from the Kurdish-Syrian city of Kobani was believed to be one of least 12 Syrians trying to reach Greece who died when their boats sank.

The body of his 5-year-old brother, Galip, washed up on another part of the beach.

“If these extraordinarily powerful images of a dead Syrian child washed up on a beach don’t change Europe’s attitude to refugees, what will?” Britain’s Independent said in remarks echoed in newspapers across the continent.

The Turkish coastguard said two boats had sunk after separately setting off from its Bodrum peninsula for the Greek Aegean island of Kos early on Wednesday.

Among the dead were five children and a woman, while 15 others were rescued, the coastguard said.

Debate

The pictures, which were widely shared on social media, triggered an outpour of angry reactions.

Some were demanding immediate action from their governments to help refugees, others were scolding fellow Facebook users for posting the confronting images.

The pictures also prompted vigorous debate inside newsrooms on the ethics of showing graphic images of dead children.

As Europeans reeled once again at human cost of the biggest movement of people since World War II, top diplomats from France, Italy and Germany urged a rethink of European rules on asylum to allow for a fairer distribution of refugees throughout the 28-member bloc.

The call came as tensions soared between European states over how to tackle the huge influx of refugees, as thousands more arrived on the Greek mainland where more than 160,000 people have already landed this year alone.

Over the last week, there has been a dramatic spike in the numbers of refugees – mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Africa – seeking to leave Turkey by sea for Greece in the hope of finding new lives in the European Union.

“Do Something, David” said the Huffington Post’s UK edition in a direct appeal to British Prime Minister David Cameron who has accepted a lower number of asylum seekers in proportion to its population than most other EU countries.

Source: Al Jazeera And Agencies