My Children Slipped Away From My Hands: Aylan Kurdi’s Father

Distraught father of the two Syrian toddlers who drowned with their mother recounts their last moments.

The distraught father of the two Syrian toddlers, who drowned with their mother and several other migrants as they tried to reach Greece, identified their bodies on Thursday and prepared to take them back to their hometown of Kobani.

Abdullah Kurdi collapsed in tears after emerging from the morgue in the city of Mugla near Bodrum in Turkey, where the body of his 3-year-old son, Aylan, washed up on Wednesday.

A photograph of the boy’s tiny body in a bright red T-shirt and dark shorts, face-down in the surf, appeared in newspapers around the world, prompting sympathy and outrage at the perceived inaction of developed nations in addressing the mounting refugee crisis.

Aylan’s 5-year-old brother, Galip, and mother, Rehan, 35, were among the 12 people, who died after two boats capsized while trying to reach the Greek island of Kos.

I just want to sit next to the grave of my children and my wife and rest. The things that happened to us here, in the country where we took refuge to escape war in our homeland, we want the whole world to see this. We want the world’s attention on us, so they can prevent the same from happening to others. Let this be the last.
— Abdullah Kurdi

In a statement to police obtained by the Hurriyet newspaper, Abdullah said he had twice paid smugglers to take him and his family to Greece but their efforts had failed. On their final attempt, the boat began to take in water and when people stood up in panic, it capsized.

I was holding my wife’s hand. My children slipped away from my hands. We tried to hold on to the boat. Everyone was screaming in pitch darkness. I couldn’t make my voice heard to my wife and kids.

The image of Aylan, drowned off one of Turkey’s most popular holiday resorts, went viral on social media and intensified the pressure on European leaders to respond to this humanitarian crisis.

Video footage showed the body of another young child, thought to be Aylan’s brother, also lying in the sand.

Nilufer Demir, the Dogan photographer who took the picture of Aylan, told broadcaster CNN Turk:

When I realised there was nothing to do to bring that boy back to life, I thought I had to take his picture ... to show the tragedy. I hope the impact this photo has created will help bring a solution.