Rohingya’s Aylan Kurdi: Baby’s Body Washes Ashore Near Bangladesh

A 16-month-old drowned as his family tried to escape the violence unleashed upon the Rohingya community in Myanmar.

Three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi’s body was found on a beach in Turkey (left); 16- month-old Rohingya child Mohammed Shohayet drowned in Naf river. (Photo courtesy: @AngryBritAbroad, ‏@mizanbd420/Twitter)

In September 2015, a haunting image of a young Syrian refugee laying face-down on a Turkish beach had surfaced. The boy’s name was Aylan Kurdi and he was only three years old. It made us question the sanity of the governments of conflicted nations. Their actions uproot thousands of its own people who then seek asylum elsewhere.

Another shocking instance highlighting the plight of a persecuted minority emerged after the body of a Rohingya child washed ashore river Naf which runs between India and Myanmar. Mohammed Shohayet was only 16 months old.

The child and his family were trying to escape the violence unleashed upon the Rohingya community of Myanmar.

“When I see the picture, I feel like I would rather die. There is no point in me living in this world,” Mohammed's father, Zafor Alam, told CNN.

Along with the child, died his mother, uncle and 3-year-old brother.

Myanmar has refused to accept the Rohingyas as an ethnic minority community who they refer to as Bengalis or illegal immigrants though they've lived in the country's Rakhine state for generations.

(With inputs from CNN)