An Australian senator has claimed that the father of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, who was pictured drowned on a beach off the coast of Turkey, had risked his own family’s life in order to “get dental treatment” in the West.
Liberal senator Cory Bernardi claimed a number of the Syrian refugees arriving in Europe are “opportunistic,” adding that he found it “a bit sanctimonious” that the image of toddler Aylan had been used by Australian politicians to call for a greater allowance of Syrian and Iraqi refugees to settle in the country.
The image of Aylan, who had drowned along with his brother and mother as the family attempted to flee the danger they faced in Turkey, sparked widespread outrage and swiftly became a symbol of the refugee crisis.
The refugee crisis - in pictures
Speaking in parliament, Bernardi said: “The fact remains that that terrible image wasn’t brought around by recent events in Syria or Iraq, that boy and his family had lived in Turkey for three years.
“The money from that boy’s father […] to pay the people smugglers was sent from Canada. And the father sent them on that boat so the father could get dental treatment.
“They were in no fear, they were in no persecution, they were in no danger in Turkey,” he added.
Aylan's body washed up on a beach in Turkey. He died along with his brother and mother.
Bernardi has been branded “an embarrassment to this government” by Australian Labour frontbencher Anthony Albanese over the comments.
“Cory Bernardi should really have a good look at himself and the implications of some of the things he says,” he said, adding that Bernardi should be “treated with the contempt those comments deserve,” the Australian reported.
In the UK, Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to take “thousands” of refugees from Syria and has promised to spend an extra £100 million on refugee camps currently bordering the country where people have been fleeing the conflict for the past four years.
