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9h ago

Ten Years After Alan Kurdi, Sympathy Ebbs as Sea Deaths Mount and Policies Harden

The anniversary revives calls to treat asylum as a humanitarian duty rather than a security problem.

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GRAVELINES, FRANCE - AUGUST 25: People gesture as they try to board a migrant dinghy into the English Channel on August 25, 2025 in Gravelines, France. Migrant crossings by boat have caused much controversy in the UK, with far-right groups organising demonstrations outside hotels housing migrants across the country over the summer. As of late August 2025, more than 28,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Overview

  • The 2015 photo of the two-year-old on a Turkish beach spurred short‑term action, including Canada’s pledge to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees after the election.
  • Human toll persists: at least 3,105 people died on Mediterranean routes in 2023, and a recent Lampedusa capsizing killed at least 26 with others missing.
  • Dangerous crossings are rising in the Channel, with nearly 20,000 arrivals in the first half of 2025, a 48% increase year on year, and 20 deaths recorded this year.
  • Advocates say Canada’s stance has tightened, citing frozen government‑assisted refugee targets, reduced private sponsorship goals, and a proposed Strong Borders bill that would curtail access to asylum hearings.
  • In the UK, editors and commentators urge more respectful language and safer legal routes as ministers pilot a limited asylum pathway with France and rhetoric from figures such as Nigel Farage draws criticism.