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| Syria Refugee Recounts How He Tried to Save Sons and Wife From Drowning | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| ISTANBUL — The father of Galip and Aylan Kurdi, the young refugee boys from Syria whose drowning off a Turkish beach has touched a global nerve, said Thursday that his family had paid smugglers more than $2,000 for a voyage to a Greek island in a 15-foot boat that was quickly upended by five-foot waves. His wife also drowned. | ISTANBUL — The father of Galip and Aylan Kurdi, the young refugee boys from Syria whose drowning off a Turkish beach has touched a global nerve, said Thursday that his family had paid smugglers more than $2,000 for a voyage to a Greek island in a 15-foot boat that was quickly upended by five-foot waves. His wife also drowned. |
| “The waves were high, the boat started swaying and shaking. We were terrified,” said the father, Abdullah Kurdi, 40, a Syrian Kurd from the town of Kobani near the Turkish border. “I rushed to my kids and wife while the boat was flipping upside down. And in a second we were all drowning in the water.” | “The waves were high, the boat started swaying and shaking. We were terrified,” said the father, Abdullah Kurdi, 40, a Syrian Kurd from the town of Kobani near the Turkish border. “I rushed to my kids and wife while the boat was flipping upside down. And in a second we were all drowning in the water.” |
| Mr. Kurdi, who said his family had long been seeking to emigrate to Canada, spoke in a telephone interview arranged by local officials from Turkey’s Mugla Province, where he was completing paperwork for the bodies of his wife, Rehan, 27; Galip, 5; and Aylan, 3; to be returned to Kobani for a funeral. | Mr. Kurdi, who said his family had long been seeking to emigrate to Canada, spoke in a telephone interview arranged by local officials from Turkey’s Mugla Province, where he was completing paperwork for the bodies of his wife, Rehan, 27; Galip, 5; and Aylan, 3; to be returned to Kobani for a funeral. |
| Photos of Aylan’s body lying face down on a Turkish beach were widely circulated on social media on Wednesday, escalating anger and frustration over the failure to help desperate families from Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa fleeing war and mayhem. | Photos of Aylan’s body lying face down on a Turkish beach were widely circulated on social media on Wednesday, escalating anger and frustration over the failure to help desperate families from Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa fleeing war and mayhem. |
| Choking back emotion as he spoke, Mr. Kurdi described how he had flailed about while trying to find his children as his wife held onto the capsized boat. | Choking back emotion as he spoke, Mr. Kurdi described how he had flailed about while trying to find his children as his wife held onto the capsized boat. |
| “I started pushing them up to the surface so they could breathe,” he said. “I had to shift from one to another. I think we were in the water for three hours trying to survive.” | “I started pushing them up to the surface so they could breathe,” he said. “I had to shift from one to another. I think we were in the water for three hours trying to survive.” |
| He watched helplessly as one exhausted child drowned, he said, then he pushed the other toward the mother, “so he could at least keep his head up.” | He watched helplessly as one exhausted child drowned, he said, then he pushed the other toward the mother, “so he could at least keep his head up.” |
| Mr. Kurdi then apologized, saying he could no longer speak, ending the conversation. | Mr. Kurdi then apologized, saying he could no longer speak, ending the conversation. |
| Turkish news agencies reported Thursday that the police had detained four Syrians suspected of involvement in arranging the passage of the boat that capsized with the Kurdi family. In all, 12 people drowned in the capsizing. | Turkish news agencies reported Thursday that the police had detained four Syrians suspected of involvement in arranging the passage of the boat that capsized with the Kurdi family. In all, 12 people drowned in the capsizing. |
| Canadian news organizations reported Thursday that a lawmaker and Mr. Kurdi’s sister had sought unsuccessfully to arrange for the family’s emigration earlier this year. | Canadian news organizations reported Thursday that a lawmaker and Mr. Kurdi’s sister had sought unsuccessfully to arrange for the family’s emigration earlier this year. |
| The sister, Teema Kurdi, who moved to Canada about 20 years ago, told The Ottawa Citizen that she had applied for a visa that would have allowed the children and their parents to come as sponsored refugees. | The sister, Teema Kurdi, who moved to Canada about 20 years ago, told The Ottawa Citizen that she had applied for a visa that would have allowed the children and their parents to come as sponsored refugees. |
| “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,” Ms. Kurdi, a hairdresser who lives in a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia, told the newspaper. “I was even paying rent for them in Turkey, but it is horrible the way they treat Syrians there.” | “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,” Ms. Kurdi, a hairdresser who lives in a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia, told the newspaper. “I was even paying rent for them in Turkey, but it is horrible the way they treat Syrians there.” |
| Fin Donnelly, Ms. Kurdi’s local member of Parliament, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that after meeting with Ms. Kurdi in March, he hand-delivered a letter to Chris Alexander, the citizenship and immigration minister, asking that the family be allowed entry into Canada as quickly as possible. Mr. Donnelly said that Ms. Kurdi was also trying to sponsor another of her brothers and his family. | Fin Donnelly, Ms. Kurdi’s local member of Parliament, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that after meeting with Ms. Kurdi in March, he hand-delivered a letter to Chris Alexander, the citizenship and immigration minister, asking that the family be allowed entry into Canada as quickly as possible. Mr. Donnelly said that Ms. Kurdi was also trying to sponsor another of her brothers and his family. |
| “I delivered the letter to the minister and — nothing,” said Mr. Donnelly, a member of the opposition New Democratic Party. “We waited and waited, and we didn’t have any action.” | “I delivered the letter to the minister and — nothing,” said Mr. Donnelly, a member of the opposition New Democratic Party. “We waited and waited, and we didn’t have any action.” |
| The Ottawa Citizen reported that the visa applications were rejected in June, apparently because the United Nations had not declared the families to be refugees and because the Turkish government had denied them exit visas. | The Ottawa Citizen reported that the visa applications were rejected in June, apparently because the United Nations had not declared the families to be refugees and because the Turkish government had denied them exit visas. |
| Mr. Alexander announced on Thursday morning that he was suspending his campaign for re-election to Parliament and was returning to Ottawa from his suburban Toronto constituency to deal with the family’s case. | Mr. Alexander announced on Thursday morning that he was suspending his campaign for re-election to Parliament and was returning to Ottawa from his suburban Toronto constituency to deal with the family’s case. |
| “I am meeting with officials to ascertain both the facts of the case of the Kurdi family and to receive an update on the migrant crisis,” he said in a statement. | “I am meeting with officials to ascertain both the facts of the case of the Kurdi family and to receive an update on the migrant crisis,” he said in a statement. |
| “The tragic photo of young Aylan Kurdi and the news of the death of his brother and mother broke hearts around the world. Like all Canadians, I was deeply saddened by that image and of the many other images of the plight of the Syrian and Iraqi migrants fleeing persecution at the hands of ISIS.” | “The tragic photo of young Aylan Kurdi and the news of the death of his brother and mother broke hearts around the world. Like all Canadians, I was deeply saddened by that image and of the many other images of the plight of the Syrian and Iraqi migrants fleeing persecution at the hands of ISIS.” |
| During the current election campaign in Canada, opposition parties have charged that the government has not accepted enough refugees from the region. Mr. Alexander had promised to admit 10,000 refugees from Syria, but figures from his department indicated that by the end of July only about 10 percent of that number had been allowed into the country. | During the current election campaign in Canada, opposition parties have charged that the government has not accepted enough refugees from the region. Mr. Alexander had promised to admit 10,000 refugees from Syria, but figures from his department indicated that by the end of July only about 10 percent of that number had been allowed into the country. |
| Mr. Donnelly said he spoke with Teema Kurdi on Wednesday night. | Mr. Donnelly said he spoke with Teema Kurdi on Wednesday night. |
| “She’s so upset,” he told the CBC. “She is distraught and will need time to recover from this.” | “She’s so upset,” he told the CBC. “She is distraught and will need time to recover from this.” |