Family of Syrian boy found on beach 'were trying to get to relatives in Canada'
The family of the two small boys whose bodies washed up on a Turkish beach yesterday were Kurdish refugees from Kobane, Syria, who were trying to emigrate to Canada, it has been reported.
Aylan,3, and his five-year-old brother - named locally as Galip Kurdi - is belived to have drowned with their mother and eight other refugees when their boat capsized in an attempt to reach the Greek island of Kos from Turkey.
Canadian newspaper The National Post reports that the boy's father, Abdullah, survived.
His sister Teema Kurdi - who emigrated to Canada 20 years ago - says that he now wants to return to Kobana and bury his family.
Teema, who works as a hairdresser in Vancouver, says that Abudllah and family were the subject of a privately sponsored refugee visa that had been rejected by the Canadian government in June - reportedly down to the complexities involved in accepting refugee applications from Turkey.
The newspaper reports that Kurds fleeing conflict to Turkey find it difficult to be granted either official refugee status by the UN or exit visas to leave the country.
Teema said: