A Syrian child, still dressed in shorts and T-shirt, will never wake to run on the sands where his body was washed ashore on Wednesday morning.He is perhaps the most pitiful of the victims of the deepening migrant crisis and he no doubt died as his family fought for a better life for him.
Pressure has grown on Prime Minister David Cameron to increase Britain’s involvement in sharing the burden of the hundreds of thousands of people arriving on European soil. Yvette Cooper, who is standing for the Labour leadership, suggested that it should be possible to take some 10,000 people seeking asylum.
The unnamed boy is just one of 2,500 people who have already died this year while fleeing violence, oppression and poverty and trying to reach Europe by sea.The child, who is probably only two or three years old, was found on a beach in Bodrum on Wednesday and his lifeless body was recovered by a Turkish gendarmerie.
The fate of his family is unknown, but it is believed his is one of at least 11 people who lost their lives when two boats capsized off the Turkish coast.A vessel carrying 16 people reportedly sank in international waters after heading for the Greek island of Kos from the holiday resort. Only four people could be rescued.Hours later, a second ship carrying six people sank – killing a woman and three children. Two migrants in life jackets were able to make it to shore half-conscious.