Beirut - The funeral convoy of Aylan al-Kurdi, a three-year-old Kurdish boy whose death while trying to reach Europe has crystallised outrage about Europe’s migration crisis thanks to a photo of his corpse, began its journey to his home town of Kobani on Friday.
Aylan’s body washed ashore in Turkey after his family tried to escape the conflict in Syria. His mother, Rehan, and five-year-old brother, Galip, also died.
Kurdish television station Rudaw showed pictures of ambulances and mourners, escorted by Turkish police, travelling in a convoy towards the Syrian border.
Pictures of the child lying face down in a shallow pool of water where he was found by Turkish police caused outrage around the world and led to an outpouring of sympathy for Syrian refugees.
The child, his brother and his mother, would all receive a traditional funeral in the Syrian Kurdish border town, local official Idriss Nassan told dpa.
Al-Kurdi’s father Abdullah, the only member of the family to survive the sinking of the small boat in which they were trying to reach Greece, was accompanying the bodies, Rudaw reported.
Turkish authorities Thursday arrested four people they say are responsible for the deaths of 12 refugees who tried to reach Europe by boat and perished at sea, including the al-Kurdi brothers and their mother.
Turkey has become a key point of departure for refugees escaping wars in Syria, Afghanistan and Africa and wanting to reach Europe.
Moves by European Union members Greece and Bulgaria to seal off their land borders with Turkey have led increasing numbers of refugees from the region’s conflicts to make the boat trip to Greek islands, which lie only kilometres from the Turkish coast.
DPA