European migrant crisis: Photos of drowned toddler washed up on Turkish beach spark fresh outrage

A Turkish police officer carries the child's body from the beach in Bodrum, southern Turkey.Warning: This story contains graphic images that some readers may find distressing.

Pictures of a toddler's lifeless body washed up on a Turkish beach have sparked horror in Europe as the continent grapples with the biggest humanitarian crisis since the end of World War II.

A Turkish police officer carries the child's body from the beach in Bodrum, southern Turkey.

The images of a tiny child lying face down in the surf at one of Turkey's main tourist resorts have been printed on the front pages newspapers all over Europe, putting a human face on the dangers faced by tens of thousands of desperate people who risk life and limb to seek a new life in Europe.

Wearing a red t-shirt and blue shorts, the child is believed to be one of at least 12 Syrians trying to reach Greece who died when their boats sank.

"If these extraordinarily powerful images of a dead Syrian child washed up on a beach don't change Europe's attitude to refugees, what will?" Britain's Independent said in remarks echoed in newspapers across the continent.

Top diplomats from France, Italy and Germany urged a rethink of European rules on asylum to allow for a fairer distribution of migrants throughout the 28-member bloc.

The call came as tensions soared between European states over how to tackle the huge influx of asylum seekers and migrants, as thousands more arrived on the Greek mainland, where more than 160,000 people have already landed this year alone.
Over the past week there has been a dramatic spike in the numbers of migrants — mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Africa — seeking to leave Turkey by sea for Greece in the hope of finding new lives in the European Union.

The Turkish coastguard said two boats had sunk after setting off from the Bodrum peninsula for the Greek Aegean island of Kos early on Wednesday.

Among the dead were five children and a woman, while 15 others were rescued, the coastguard said.






























origina post found herhttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-03/turkish-police-officer-carries-childs-body-from-beach/6745792