Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

Tima Kurdi Travels To Brussels To Call For More Help For Syrian Refugees

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 15 Sep, 2015 12:43 PM
  • Tima Kurdi Travels To Brussels To Call For More Help For Syrian Refugees
BRUSSELS — The aunt of the Syrian refugee child whose body washed up on a Turkish beach is appealing for more help for Syrian refugees.
 
Tima Kurdi travelled from her home in Coquitlam, B.C., to Brussels, where she spoke Monday in front of a wall that now includes a painting of her dead three-year-old nephew, Alan, telling reporters that Europe must not slam the door on desperate refugees.
 
"I feel this little Alan was a message from God to wake up the world," Kurdi said. "And I am the messenger here."
 
The Kurdi boys — Alan, and five-year-old Ghalib — and their mother were among at least 12 migrants, including five children, who drowned Sept. 2 when two boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized.
 
The heartbreaking photo of a drowned Alan — wearing a bright-red T-shirt and blue shorts — has put a human face to the humanitarian crisis, both globally and in Canada.
 
The European Union failed Monday to reach agreement on a plan to share 120,000 refugees arriving in Italy, Greece and Hungary.
 
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said after chairing a meeting of EU interior ministers in Brussels that "it is premature for the Council to take a decision today."
 
 
The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary had been among the nations opposed to the refugee sharing plan leading up to the emergency meeting.
 
Hungarian police have rolled a train car covered on one end with seven coils of razor wire up to the border with Serbia, where the improvised obstacle was used to cap a strategic gap in the country's border fence.
 
Kurdi said higher fences aren't what is needed.
 
"They flee the war, from dangers, from dying, and you put the fence ... they (countries) can and should build a longer table, not a higher fence," she said.
 
Meanwhile, Romania's president said his country is not "xenophobic, autistic, or separatist," but just unable to absorb large numbers of migrants.
 
President Klaus Iohannis said Romania wanted to help in Europe's migrant crisis, suggesting it could beef up the external borders of the European Union. He said Romania's problem is not finding shelter for migrants but integrating them.
 
Finland, meanwhile, has said it will increase monitoring its borders as hundreds of asylum seekers flood in daily from Sweden.
 
The Nordic country will also open reception centres for migrants in northern Finland, especially along the border.
 
 
In Canada, the crisis has become an issue in the federal election campaign, with opposition parties pressing Prime Minister Stephen Harper to expedite the process for refugee resettlement.

MORE National ARTICLES

University Of Toronto Ramps Up Security After Online Threats Against Women

The university's provost issued a warning to students, faculty and staff Thursday, citing threats made on a blog, but did not describe the nature of the threats.

University Of Toronto Ramps Up Security After Online Threats Against Women

B.C. Man Operated 'Chop Shop' For Guns To Be Used In Crime: Crown Lawyer

B.C. Man Operated 'Chop Shop' For Guns To Be Used In Crime: Crown Lawyer
Frank Caputo told B.C. Supreme Court that police pulled Charles Patrick over in December 2013 behind the wheel of a suspicious vehicle.

B.C. Man Operated 'Chop Shop' For Guns To Be Used In Crime: Crown Lawyer

Iraqi Couple Allege Alan Kurdi's Father Was Captain Of The Boat That Capsized

Iraqi Couple Allege Alan Kurdi's Father Was Captain Of The Boat That Capsized
Reports say Zainab Abbas and Ahmad Hadi, who lost two children in the tragedy, told journalists in Baghdad that after the accident, Abdullah Kurdi begged them not to tell Turkish police that he was in charge of the boat

Iraqi Couple Allege Alan Kurdi's Father Was Captain Of The Boat That Capsized

Sex Case Of Ex-Alpine Canada Coach Bertrand Charest Put Off Until October

 The case of a former national ski coach who faces a host of sex-related charges involving girls and young women between the ages of 12 and 19 has been put off until October.

Sex Case Of Ex-Alpine Canada Coach Bertrand Charest Put Off Until October

13 Pot Shops In B.C. Threatened With Police Raids In Health Canada Crackdown

13 Pot Shops In B.C. Threatened With Police Raids In Health Canada Crackdown
 North America's oldest medical marijuana dispensary has fired off a terse letter to Health Canada demanding to know why it's being targeted.

13 Pot Shops In B.C. Threatened With Police Raids In Health Canada Crackdown

Canada Only Country To Charge Refugees Interest On Travel Loans: Advocates

Canada Only Country To Charge Refugees Interest On Travel Loans: Advocates
The federal government requires refugees to pay for their own travel costs and overseas medical exams and will loan families up to $10,000.

Canada Only Country To Charge Refugees Interest On Travel Loans: Advocates