Dead Syrian boy’s aunt reflects on family’s journey to BC

When Alan Kurdi’s little body washed up on a beach in Turkey, forcing the world to understand the ache of Syria’s refugees, the 2-year-old boy was just one member of a family on the run, scattered by almost 5 years of time of time of upheaval.

Mohammed Kurdi, his wife and their five children arrived in Canada as refugees on Monday, sponsored by Mohammed’s sister Tima Kurdi, who wiped away tears as she greeted her relatives at Vancouver airport’s arrival gates.

The emotional reunion comes at the end of a hard year for the family.

Alan, 3, drowned, along with his mother, Rehenna, and older brother Ghalib, 4, when their boat capsized off the coast of Turkey en route to Greece.

A photo of the boy’s body face down in the surf sparked global sorrow and momentum to help Syrian refugees.

On behalf of her brother (and Alan’s father) Abdullah, who has chosen not to come to Canada, she thanked the Turkish government and the Kurdistan government in the autonomous region of Iraq, where he is now living.

A teary Tima expressed her thanks to the Canadian government and translated her brother Mohammad’s gratitude.

Mohammed and his family likely won’t receive any government assistance, as they are being sponsored by his sister. He had not met his five-month-old son, Sherwan, who was born in July, but the family reunited in Frankfurt before flying to Canada.

Mohammed said he has very intention to stay in Canada, where he will start a new life for his family. Kurdi, who plans to open a hair salon in Port Coquitlam, hopes Mohammad, a barber, will work there with her. Tima said her brother and his wife want to lead a “very simple life” and hope for a better future for their children.

After working for years to bring her relatives to Canada, Alan’s death thrust Tima into the worldwide spotlight as a spokeswoman for the refugees’ plight.

Tima Kurdi said the entire family of seven will join her family of three in their Vancouver home.

In the U.S., more than 30 states have vowed to block any efforts by the government of Barack Obama to settle the 10,000 refugees he has said he will welcome.

“I walked through that tunnel”, she said.

Asked if she had a message for Abdullah, Tima yesterday said: “All of us here wish you were here with us”.

Alan Kurdi’s father had attempted the unsafe water crossing after the Canadian government rejected his brother Mohammed’s original refugee application. “That hurts me even more”, she says.