Powerful image of dead Syrian toddler is timely reminder of our inhumanity

Over the past week, a number of powerful images of dead refugees have shaken the world with the latest photos of a three-year old boy lying dead on a Turkish beach showing exactly what’s wrong with Europe and its attitude to refugees. Never has a photo immortalised the times we are living in better than that of Aylan Kurdi.

The three-year-old boy, Aylan, was not attempting to reach Europe to receive welfare benefits in London or take somebody else’s job in Berlin. Together with his family, Aylan fled his hometown, Kobane, which for months has been besieged by Islamic State militants. Their aim was to reach Europe and eventually join their relatives in Canada.

Luckily, they got away from the bombs and carnage in Syria only to find death on Europe’s shores. Aylan, who for most of his short life lived in constant fear and distress, sought the safety which we take for granted in this part of the world. 

After travelling several hundred kilometres through Turkey, Aylan’s family could smell the promised land as they set their eyes and thoughts on the shores of the Greek island of Kos, just three short kilometres away.

In recent weeks we have seen photos of thousands of other refugees successfully cross the Aegean Sea, which is considered as one of the safest passages to Europe when compared to the deadly central Mediterranean routes.  

But Aylan and his family never felt the elation of reaching Europe. Instead, we were shown images of a lifeless toddler, wearing a red T-shirt and lying face-down on the beach near the lavish resorts in Bodrum. His five-year-old brother Galip and their mother, Rehan also lost their life.

The Turkish authorities said the refugees had departed in the early hours of Wednesday morning, but the two boats they were in sank shortly afterwards. Twelve bodies, including five children, were recovered. Of 23 people on board the two boats, only nine people are thought to have survived - some made it to shore with life jackets.

Will these images change Europe’s attitude to refugees? Probably not. People will still see it as an invasion and politicians will put their electoral interests before anything else. However, politicians are not the only culprits in this shameful spectacle of indifference.

Politicians are increasingly wary to welcome refugees in their countries because the electorate is hostile to asylum seekers. This has led to the hawkish right-wing government in Hungary to build a 175 kilometre barbed-wire fence along its border with Serbia and UK Prime Minister David Cameron and other countries rebuffing EU plans to relocate refugees across Europe.

Following the tragic events in Lampedusa and the Mediterranean and now Turkey more and more European citizens are realising that Europe must pull down its walls and open its arms.

This week, thousands of Germans attended a pro-immigration rally in the eastern city of Dresden, displaying banners with the slogan "refugees welcome." Similar scenes were witnessed in Vienna, Berlin and other European cities.

10,000 Icelanders offered to welcome Syrian refugees into their homes, in response to a Facebook campaign launched in reaction to the government’s hawkish stance.

Refreshingly, German chancellor Angel Merkel showed some much needed leadership and said that Europe’s powerhouse will be welcoming up to 800,000 refugees this year alone. While Merkel’s move could be seen as an attempt to rehabilitate Germany’s battered image following the Greek bailout crisis, her bold move will hopefully be a game changer.

However, despite Merkel’s strong leadership it will be very difficult to change Europe’s attitude, a continent happier bickering than showing compassion towards people of all ages, ethnicity, creed and economic status who seek refuge in Europe.

While the economic prosperity achieved in post-war Europe is laudable, unfortunately despite the horrors of WWII the old continent has not learned much about compassion. Instead of discussing how refugees can be granted safe and legal passage and how they can be integrated, Europe is in denial.

The primordial desire for a better life will never wash away and neither will the scars of our inhumanity.