Relatives of drowned toddler come to Canada

“It’s a family business”, she says of the new venture, nestled between a children’s reading centre and an optometry clinic in a nondescript strip mall.

The child’s brother and mother were among those who died when two boats capsized as they tried to cross the waters from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos. It was in Frankfurt that he first met his five-month-old son, Sherwan, who was alert and awake for his arrival in Canada.

The family is just a few of the tens of thousands of people that the Canadian government has promised to resettle. She had hoped to sponsor Alan and his family next.

Relatives of Alan Kurdi – the toddler whose limp body was photographed on a Turkish beach this year, becoming a heartbreaking symbol of the Syrian refugee crisis – arrived on Monday in Canada where they hope to rebuild their lives.

The tearful gathering at the Vancouver International Airport didn’t include Alan’s father Abdullah, who’s Tima’s brother.

Alan’s father, Abdullah, the sole survivor, abandoned his attempt to emigrate.

Speaking through his sister, who translated from Arabic, Mohammed Kurdi thanked Canadians and their government for making his dreams come true.

Her brother Shergo, 14, had to work at a sweatshop in Turkey in order to put food on the table.

Mohammed Kurdi, his wife and their five children have come to Canada as refugees, sponsored by his sister Tima Kurdi, who has become a spokeswoman for people fleeing the war-torn nation.

Seeing Mohammed Kurdi and his family finally walk on Canadian soil is “bittersweet”, Donnelly said, explaining that he had been working with Tima Kurdi to submit applications for both of her brothers’ families. The three politicians, as well as MLA Peter Fassbender, were all at the airport.

Tima has opened a hair salon in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, where she says Mohammad will join her as a barber.

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

“We’re going to make it. We’re going to work hard together.”

“Syrian breakfast. I’m sure they haven’t had this for a long time”. “I thought they got scared and ran away”, he said.

“But we have Mohammed and his family here today”.

Hivrun Kurdi, an aunt of Alan’s, with her kids in a refugee shelter in Bramsche, Germany, this month.

“There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel… keep walking until you find that light”.