Drowned Syrian boy’s father never made refugee application, feds say

The uncle of the three-year-old Syrian boy whose lifeless body has put a devastating human face on the Syrian refugee crisis has assailed Canada’s refugee process, while the government says no refugee application was ever filed.

Rocco Logozzo told The Canadian Press that the system is designed to fail. He said his family had money and plenty of room to house little Alan Kurdi and his brother and parents at his home in Coquitlam, B.C.

“The rules and process are very onerous. I mean the whole thing … is really designed to fail to try and help our relatives … to come to Canada,” Logozzo said.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada said it received no refugee application from the father of two drowned Syrian boys, according to the Canadian Press. The family said Canada rejected their refugee application in June, at which point the Kurdi family lost all hope and made the “bad” choice to get on a boat to try to get to Europe.

Logozzo said he and wife, Tima Kurdi, have been grieving since hearing the news that their nephews, Alan and his five-year-old brother, Galib, and their mother, Rehand, died as they tried to reach Europe from Syria.

He said the boys’ father, Abdullah, who is Tima’s brother, survived after their speed boat capsized when it was struck by a large wave as they traveled from Turkey to a Greek island.

“Overloaded boat flipped and I realized they were all dead.” – father of drowned Syrian boys

Abdullah said the boat’s captain panicked due to high waves and jumped into the sea, leaving him in control of the small craft with his family and other migrants aboard.

Logozzo said Abdullah told his sister that he put lifejackets on both boys, but they somehow slipped off when the boat flipped over.

“I took over and started steering. The waves were so high and the boat flipped. I took my wife and my kids in my arms and I realized they were all dead,” Abdullah said. The distraught father added: “All I want is to be with my children at the moment.”

He said the small boat, headed for the Greek island of Kos, was overloaded with 12 migrants and the captain, described as a Turkish man. It was only at sea for four minutes before the captain abandoned the craft, Kurdi said.

“My kids were the most beautiful children in the world, wonderful, they wake me up every morning to play with them. They are all gone now,” Abdullah said.

---

Related stories:

Immigration minister suspends campaign, meets with officials after Syrian boy drowns

B.C. woman tried to sponsor Syrian relatives who drowned off Turkey

Video: B.C. relative of drowned Syrian boy reacts to tragedy

---

The powerful photographs of Alan have sparked fresh debate about the deepening migrant crisis.

 

 

Tima was too heartbroken to talk at length, saying through sobs that she was not feeling well enough to talk.

The boys’ aunt said she had sought to get Canadian refugee status for her relatives in the Syrian town of Kobani, which was devastated by battles between Islamic State and Kurdish fighters, said Canadian legislator Fin Donnelly. Donnelly submitted the application on the family’s behalf.

Canadian immigration authorities rejected the application, in part because of the family’s lack of exit visas to ease their passage out of Turkey and their lack of internationally recognized refugee status, the aunt, she told the Ottawa Citizen.

On Thursday, Canada’s immigration minister suspended his re-election campaign to travel to Ottawa and look into why the Canadian government rejected the request. A senior government official said Chris Alexander wanted to determine the facts of the case.

“The tragic photo of young Alan Kurdi and the news of the death of his brother and mother broke hearts around the world,” Alexander said in a statement Thursday.

“Like all Canadians, I was deeply saddened by that image and of the many other images of the plight of the Syrian and Iraqi migrants fleeing persecution at the hands of ISIS.”

Canada failed fleeing boys who drowned: refugee group

A refugee advocacy group said two young boys who drowned could be alive today if Canada had responded better to the Syrian refugee crisis.

The Canadian Council for Refugees is calling for Syrians with family in Canada to be allowed entry immediately to complete processing in safety.

The council wants flexible measures, such as temporary resident permits, for Syrians with relatives in Canada.

It notes the boys had an aunt in Canada and likely would have been able to get a Turkish exit permit if they were leaving to reunite with family.

The Conservative government has defended its approach to the Syrian refugee crisis, saying it balances humanitarian assistance with a military effort against radicals rampaging through Syria.