(Newswire.net — September 4, 2015) — The grim image of a toddler found dead in a sleeping position on a beach in Turkey has become a symbol for all the danger and suffering refugees are going through on their way to freedom.
Three-year-old Aylan Kurdi was among 12 immigrants who died trying to reach Greece when their boats sank in Turkish waters.
The family of the toddler told journalists that they were previously denied asylum in Canada, before they decided to follow a Balkan route towards Western Europe. The Canadian government, however, denies they received an asylum request from Aylan’s family members, AP reported.
“I was trying to sponsor them and I have my friends and my neighbors who helped me with the bank deposits, but we couldn’t get them out, and that is why they went in the boat,” AP quoted her as saying.
“I was even paying rent for them in Turkey, but it is horrible the way they treat Syrians there,” the boy’s aunt allegedly said. The Canadian Emigration officel, however, disputes that they received the papers.
“There was no record of an application received for Mr. Abdullah Kurdi (the toddler’s father) and his family,” said a ministry statement. It said an application had been received for Abdullah’s brother Mohammed, but “was returned as it was incomplete.”
“Canada did not offer citizenship to Mr Abdullah Kurdi,” the Canadian ministry is adamant. The boy’s father was the only survivor in the family of four.
According to the report by the Associated Press, Aylan’s aunt, the Ottawa Citizen, reported that the boy’s family tried to join relatives in Canada but they were denied the asylum.
Later, the toddler’s aunt admitted to the media she had not filled out an application for Abdullah, only for his brother Mohammed, confirming the Canadian Emigrational. Mohammed is now living in Germany.
The Syrian refugee issue has become a large question in Canada since this northern American country is heading for elections. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged to do more if his Tories are re-elected — while stressing the key to ending the crisis was to defeat the Islamic State group.
While Canada has agreed to resettle 20,000 refugees, as of late July it had only welcomed 1,002, according to government figures, AP reported.