NEWS
Tuesday, January 5, 2016 3
ALAN KURDI
A SYMBOL COMMANDING CHANGE IN CANADA
-nancy sarmento
The image of Alan Kurdi’s tiny, lifeless body
on the shores of Bodrum, Turkey commanded
t he world’s at tent ion. T he t h ree-ye a r-old
immediately became the symbol of the dire situation facing Syrian refugees, displaced from
their homes by civil war. His tragic story bore
significant weight in the transformation of the
world’s reception of Syrian refugees.
Th ree-yea r-old A la n, a nd h is older brother,
Ghal ib Ku rd i, aged five, are bel ieved to have
been born i n Koban i Syria, where they were
cared for by both parents. Alan’s father, thirtyn i ne-yea r-old Ab du l l a h wa s employed a s a
barber in Kobani, while Alan’s mother, thirtyf ive-ye a r-old Reh a n n a, worked a s a se a mstress. During Syria’s civil war, the family had
made two attempts to escape to the island of
Kos, in Greece, with aspirations of coming to
Canada. On the third attempt, carried out on 2
September 2015, the family sought refuge in an
overcrowded dinghy set for Kos. The dinghy, an
inadequate inf latable device designed to carry
only eight people, was in fact occupied by sixteen persons, and set to travel four miles from
the shore of Bodrum to the island of Kos. The
dinghy capsized between the waters of Greece
and Tu rkey, tak i ng the l ives of A lan, Ghal ib,
and Rehanna. Alan’s tiny body washed ashore,
images of which have been repeated throughout world as a symbol of the urgency and distress facing displaced Syrians. Abdullah buried
h is fa m i ly i n thei r hometow n of Koba n i, i n
Syria, where supporting mourners joined him.
S i n c e t h e d e a t h o f h i s fa m i l y, A b d u l l a h
ha s lost mot ivat ion i n h is quest to come to
Canada, and is now work i ng to open a charit y i n nor t her n I raq for ref u ge e ch i ld ren.
I n a hol id ay me s s a ge, Ab du l l a h dem a nde d
cou nt r ie s to welcome S y r i a n ref u gee s.
A b du l l a h’s si s te r, Ti m a Ku rd i , re si d e s i n
Br it i sh C olu mbi a, C a n ad a. She a s si sted t he
fa m i ly by s e nd i n g mone y to he lp f i n a nce
t he fa m i ly’s escape, a nd it wa s decided t he
mon ie s wou ld pay smu g glers a nd faci l it ate
access to the d i nghy. The Ku rd i fa m i ly pa id
over $5,000.00 for the fou r seats reser ved on
the i l l-desti ned d i nghy. Abdu l la h’s brother,
Moha m med Ku rd i, has recently been schedu led to a r r ive i n C a nad a w it h h is w i fe a nd
five ch i ld ren on 28 December 2015. He w i l l
be reu n ited w it h Ti ma i n Br it ish C olu mbia.
The Tragedy of Alan Kurdi
Commands Change
The tragic image of Alan Kurdi’s lifeless body
generated a surge of support for Syrian Refugees in Canada. Alan’s image transformed the
focus of Canada’s election campaign. Canadian
leaders made promises and took steps in consideration of the Syrian refugee crisis. Canada
has reacted to include the planned welcome of
over 50,000 Syrian refugees into Canada.
Other changes ensued. The terminology originally used to describe displaced Syrians shifted
from migrants to refugees following the publ icat ion of t he pictu re, w it h t he d i f ference
between the two terms bei ng heavi ly scr utin i zed. The term m igrant d id not captu re the
adversity facing Syrians. The term refugee more
adequately captu red the tr uth of the despai r
facing Syrians during this time.
On 9 December, 2015, Pri me Mi n ister Justi n
Tr ude au , accomp a n ie d by K at h le en Wy n n,
g