Family of Alan Kurdi speaks out against Trump’s refugee ban

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The global response to Syrian refugee crisis has been thrown into uncertainty thanks an one of Donald Trump‘s executive orders barring US entry to any passport-holder from one of seven Muslim-majority countries.

That global response was galvanized in 2015 when photos of three-year-old Alan Kurdi lying face-down on a Turkish beach made international headlines.

Now, Kurdi’s relatives are urging people not to forget those photos and the crisis they represent.

“Trump is wrong,” says Tima Kurdi, Alan’s aunt. “He should remember, children are losing their lives on a daily basis, and you cannot just close your door and turn your back and walk away from them.

“Nobody in the world should ever forget the image of my nephew.”

Many members of the Kurdi family successfully re-located Metro Vancouver after the photos were published, but some are still in Syria. Tima is left wondering if this refugee ban will keep her from seeing them again.

The executive order the president signed on Friday bars US entry for anyone with a Syrian, Iranian, Iraqi, Yemeni, Libyan, Sudanese, or Somalian passport for at least 90 days.

“We are denying the humanity and the dignity of the people,” Kurdi says. “People are people no matter where we come from.”

Kurdi encourages those opposed to the travel ban to be strong, and make their voices heard.

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