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Tima Kurdi in September 2015 next to a photo of the late Alan Kurdi and his brother Galip
Photo: BEN NELMS / REUTERS
Five years after the death of the refugee boy Alan Kurdi, his aunt Tima Kurdi called for humanitarian treatment of refugees and those seeking protection at a vigil in Berlin.
"We cannot close our eyes and turn our backs on them," said Kurdi.
"People all over the world are suffering. They are calling for help."
Kurdi said how her brother told her about the death of his family in 2015.
While fleeing the war in Syria, Abdullah Kurdi tried to take a boat from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos with his wife and two small children.
The boat capsized.
Kurdi's wife Rehanna and her children drowned - Alan Kurdi was two, Ghalib Kurdi four years old.
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Graffiti (in Frankfurt am Main): Alan Kurdi's picture went around the world
Photo: DANIEL ROLAND / AFP
The photo of the dead Alan on the beach near Bodrum in Turkey went around the world.
Tima Kurdi now lives in Vancouver, Canada.
The vigil on Berlin's Washingtonplatz was organized by the aid organization Sea-Eye, which named a rescue ship "Alan Kurdi".
"Sea-Watch 4" will hand over around 350 rescued persons to the quarantine ship
The fact that thousands of people still have to be rescued by private rescue ships is currently evident on the coast of Sicily.
There, "Sea-Watch 4" handed over the first of more than 350 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean to a quarantine ship on Wednesday.
After quarantine checks due to the corona pandemic, they are to be brought to Palermo in Sicily.
According to the German aid organization, people had to stay aboard the "Sea-Watch 4" under very restricted conditions for the past twelve days.
The "Sea-Watch 4" had only saved 150 of the 353 migrants transferred on Saturday in the Mediterranean.
The people were on the rescue ship "Louise Michel" at the time.
The ship, donated by the British artist Banksy to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean, had previously made an emergency call because it was unseaworthy.
When the "Sea-Watch 4" and the Italian coast guard reached the "Louise Michel", the ship with more than 200 people on board was completely overloaded and unable to maneuver.
According to official figures, between August 1, 2019 and July 31, 2020, more than 21,600 migrants reached Italy's coasts.
In the same period before that there were just under 8,700.
Refugee numbers are falling
Despite the increase, significantly fewer people are currently reaching the EU country than in previous years.
The numbers fell after the Italian government signed an agreement with Libya.
It stipulates that the Libyan coast guard will stop migrants who want to cross the Mediterranean to Italy.
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bah / dpa / AFP
