Source: thinkprogress.org - Friday, September 04, 2015 The crisis in Syria has triggered the largest humanitarian and migrant crisis since WWII . For many, that tragedy was personified this week in the photo of a small boy in a red shirt and tiny trainers, washed up on a beach in the Turkish resort town of Bodrum (the distressing photo is embedded later in this post). That three-year-old boy was buried Friday in the town of Kobane, which he and his family fled, by his father, the lone survivor. He has been identified in the media as Aylan Kurdi, though his aunt told the BBC that the accurate Kurdish spelling of his name is Alan. Three-year-old Alan and his family, including his five-year old brother Ghalip, mother Rehanna, and father Abdullah were among a small group of migrants attempting to cross from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos, and thus into the European Union. They were reportedly trying to reach Canada, where Abdullah’s sister lived. Of the Kurdi family, only Abdullah survived the tragic trip. Fourteen of the party of 23 migrants are believed to have perished. Five of the dead were children. The photos of Alan in particular have been shared widely on social media around the world. Suddenly, the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean, a tragically common occurrence , inspired widespread outrage. Artists around the world referenced the photo to draw spotlight to the crisis. Headlines asked if this one picture would shift our view of refugees. In a blog post, Peter Bouckaer All Related | More on Syria
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