Coquitlam woman says she is the aunt of the Syrian boy seen in photos shared worldwide

COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – There is a Coquitlam connection to the heart-wrenching image of a small Syrian boy face down in the surf in Turkey that quickly spread around the world yesterday.

*Warning: The photo is posted at the bottom of this article. It is an extremely disturbing image.

Fatima Kurdi from Coquitlam says she is the aunt of the three-year-old — who died along with his mother and five-year-old brother — and she had been trying to bring them to Canada to escape the civil war in Syria.

“I spoke to Tima last night and she was horrified by the news,” says Finn Donnelly, the NDP candidate in Port Moody-Coquitlam, who had been working on Kurdi’s behalf.

“This is heartbreaking and frustrating at the same time. Tima tried to everything right, coming into my office in March of this year looking to sponsor her family members,” he tells NEWS 1130.

Donnelly felt the case was compelling enough to warrant a letter to the immigration minister.

“I personally walked it to him and delivered it in Parliament. Unfortunately, we waited for weeks and weeks and that turned into months. Of course, we see the tragic news now: the image that has captured the attention of the world. That’s how Tima learned of this tragic drowning of her family members.”

Three-year-old Alan Kurdi, five-year-old Ghalib and their mother Renah were among at least 12 Syrian migrants, including five children, who drowned yesterday when two boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized off the coast of Turkey.

The boys’ father — Fatima’s brother — survived.

“She has told me that she has talked to Abdullah and, of course, he is in a terrible state. I can only imagine how gut-wrenching that is,” says Donnelly.

The heart-wrenching image quickly spread around the world through social media yesterday. It has sparked horror and outrage, and captured the attention of many people who otherwise had not paid much attention to the civil war in Syria.

“Now it comes down to the Canadian government. It has to do something. Canada must do more to accept its share of refugees from around the world. This is a global crisis that must be addressed,” says Donnelly.

*Warning: The photo posted below is extremely disturbing

 

 

 

 

 

A Turkish police officer stands next to the body of the young boy

(Photo via Reuters)

Photos of Galip Kurdi, 3, and Aylan Kurdi, 5, who drowned when boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized off the coast of Turkey.

(Photo via facebook.com/tima.kurdi)

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