Drowned Toddler's Family Was Rejected Asylum by Canada

By R. Siva Kumar - 04 Sep '15 08:37AM

A toddler's dead body was discovered on the shores of a Turkish resort on Wednesday, the photograph of which went viral. The baby's aunt, Teema Kurdi, explained why her family escaped Middle East by boat, according to Canada Journal.

The family is an immigrants' family that was trying to move to Canada. However, Canada rejected their Citizenship and Immigration Services in June, because the United Nations refused to register the family as refugees, as they were Kurdish Syrians. They had also spent a lot of time in Turkey, in which the government too did not grant them exit visas.

The family had been trying to escape through the sea and reach the Greek island of Kos. However, it was destroyed by huge waves on the way, leading to the death of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, his 5-year-old brother Galip, their 35-year-old mother, Rehan, as well as nine other refugees. The father, Abdullah, managed to live through the deadly incident, reports USA Today.

"My kids were the most beautiful children in the world, wonderful, they wake me up every morning to play with them. They are all gone now," Abdullah said.

Teema Kurdi recollected how hard she had tried to get them all to Canada, with the help of Canadians.

"I was trying to sponsor them, and I have my friends and my neighbors who helped me with the bank deposits, but we couldn't get them out, and that is why they went in the boat. I was even paying rent for them in Turkey, but it is horrible the way they treat Syrians there," she said, according to hngn.