Two jailed over drowning of refugee boy Aylan whose death moved the world

Two people smugglers have been jailed over the drowning of migrant boy Aylan Kurdi, whose death sparked a worldwide outcry. Mufawaka Alabash and Asem Alfrhad were sentenced to four years and two months each, over the death of the three-year-old, whose body was photographed lying on the beach, and four other people. The Syrian pair were convicted of human trafficking but acquitted of the charge of causing the deaths through deliberate negligence.

I don’t know why I am here or why I have been jailed for the past five months. My family spoke with the survivors after the accident… They said Abdullah Kurdi headed this (organisation) and that he then went on television as a hero.

Asem Alfrhad blames Aylan’s father during his trial

Alabash and Alfrhad were tried in Bodrum, the same Turkish city where Aylan’s body was washed up in September 2015. The pair had faced up to 35 years in prison each. Aylan’s brother, Galip, and mother, Rihan, were among the five victims who drowned. But it was the photograph of Aylan’s lifeless body washed up on the beach that shocked the world. Their boat went down on an ill-fated journey from Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos. The boys’ father, Abdullah, survived and now lives in Iraq.

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