Part of the extended family of a Syrian toddler whose body washed up on a Turkish beach in September, sparking international outrage over the plight of refugees fleeing the war in Syria, arrived in Canada for an emotional reunion with family members on Monday.
Mohammad Kurdi, along with his wife and five children, arrived at Vancouver’s airport into the welcoming arms of Tima Kurdi who is privately sponsoring her brother and his family as refugees in Canada. Mohammed had to leave his pregnant wife and children in Turkey while he moved to Germany in search of work seven months ago. He saw his youngest child, who was born in July, for the first time as the family reunited in Frankfurt, before arriving in Canada.
“Thank you Canadian people! Thank you to our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for opening the door and showing the world how everyone should welcome and save life,” Tima said with tears of happiness in her eyes. “And my message to refugees and people who struggle all over the world, I’m just going to tell them there is always light at the end of the tunnel… Keep walking until you find your light.”
Tima and Mohammad are the aunt and the uncle of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old boy who died alongside his brother Galib, 5, and their mother, Rehana, when their boat capsized between Turkey and the Greek island of Kos, in the early hours of Sept 2, 2015. The boy’s father, Abdullah Kurdi, survived.
Abdullah has chosen not to come to Canada to be with his sister and brother, staying instead in Syrian Kurdistan.
“Abdullah, all of us are wishing you were with us,” said Tima breaking up in tears as she addressed her brother.
Tima’s initial application to bring in Mohammad and his family to Canada was rejected by Citizenship and Immigration Canada as incomplete.
That rejection – after three frustrating months trying to acquire all the necessary documents – discouraged Tima from filing an application to bring Alan’s father Abdullah, prompting him instead to risk a perilous sea voyage to try to reach safety in Europe.
Tima has opened a hair salon in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, where she says Mohammad will join her as a barber.
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