Waves lapped indifferently at their dead bodies. The Aegean Sea became a tomb, and the world watched with cold detachment.
Two Syrian boys, 3-year-old Aylan and his brother, 5-year-old Galip have now become the grim faces of Europe’s migrant shame.
After traveling several hundred miles through Turkey, the two boys and their parents finally reached the shoreline. Their goal, the island of Kos. And in between, two short miles of open sea.
The family, along with at least 20 others, set off in dinghies, in an effort to reach the relative safe European haven. After fleeing war-torn Syria, the prospect of a better and safer life suddenly became possible.
Fate, however, would play a deadly card against them. The dinghies should capsized, sending twenty bodies into the water. Alyan, Galip, and their mother drowned. Their father reportedly survived.
Aylan’s lifeless body washed ashore, along with debris and many other bodies. The toddler’s death by drowning in the pursuit of a better life has now become a symbol of shame for Europe, and the world at large.