Syrian toddler’s death had disproportionate effect on Canada: observers
VANCOUVER — It’s been one year since the image of a drowned toddler lying face down on a Turkish beach turned the eyes of the world to the Syrian refugee crisis, but observers say the powerful portrait of human suffering did little in the long term to alleviate the hardship in the conflict-torn region.
Friday, Sept. 2, marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Alan Kurdi, a two-year-old Syrian boy immortalized in a chilling photograph that captured the price all too often paid by those struggling to escape the years-long civil war.
“I think Alan’s picture in our minds has kind of faded into the background,” said Rouba Alfattal, a professor of Middle East and Arab politics at the University of Ottawa.
Alfattal said heightened security concerns stemming in large part from increased terrorist attacks across Europe are partly to blame for the West’s waning reluctance to accommodate refugees displaced by the conflict.