Outcry all around
Harrowing pictures of a drowned Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish beach have sparked global outrage over the human cost of the escalating refugee crisis as Europe stood accused of letting the Mediterranean become a "cemetery" for migrants.
The images of a tiny child lying face down in the surf at one of Turkey's main tourist resorts has once more put a human face on the dangers faced by tens of thousands of desperate people who risk life and limb to seek a new life in Europe.
Wearing a red T-shirt and blue shorts, the child -- identified as three-year-old Aylan Kurdi -- is believed to be one of the 12 Syrians who died when their boats sank trying to reach Greece. Aylan's brother, Galip, aged five, and mother, Rihan, also died.
The bleak images spread like lightning through social media and dominated front pages from Spain to Sweden, with commentators unanimous it had rammed home the horrors faced by those fleeing war and conflict in the Middle East and Africa.
Circulating with the Turkish hashtag "#KiyiyaVuranInsanlik" ("Humanity washed ashore"), the picture made it to Twitter's top world trending topics.
"Tiny victim of a human catastrophe," said Britain's Daily Mail, while Italy's La Repubblica tweeted the words: "One photo to silence the world."
"If these extraordinarily powerful images of a dead Syrian child washed up on a beach don't change Europe's attitude to refugees, what will?" Britain's Independent said in remarks echoed in newspapers across the continent.
Some said they hoped the images of the boy lying on the beach and his limp body being scooped up by a rescue worker could be a turning point in the debate over how to handle the surge of people heading toward Europe.
Nadim Houry, Human Rights Watch Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, described the pictures as "haunting”.
"Biggest indictment of collective failure," he tweeted.
Meanwhile, there have been sharp disagreements among European leaders over how to deal with the crisis.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has bluntly blamed EU states for the death of every single migrant who lost their lives making the perilous journey to Europe.
"European countries, which turned the Mediterranean Sea -- the cradle of ancient civilisations -- into a migrant cemetery are party to the crime that takes place when each refugee loses their life," he said in a speech.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban lashed out at Germany over its handling of the crisis as scenes of chaos erupted in his country.
The deep rifts in Europe were highlighted as Orban held urgent talks with the European Union's top officials in Brussels over worst crisis of its kind since World War II.
After seeing the "horrifying" images of the boy, Spain's prime minister urged the world to act to end the Syrian war, and his Italian counterpart said Europe cannot just be emotional about the deaths of people seeking refugee from war and persecution.
"Faced with these images which tear and move the hearts of every father, we must be aware that we need a global strategy and Europe cannot lose face," Italian premier Matteo Renzi said.
"The problem is not a European problem, the problem is a German problem," the Hungarian premier told a press conference with European Parliament President Martin Schulz.
Orban said German Chancellor Angela Merkel had insisted that no refugees could leave Hungary without being registered there first, in line with "clear-cut" EU rules that asylum seekers' claims must be dealt with by their initial country of entry.
"Nobody wants to stay in Hungary, neither in Slovakia, nor Poland, nor Estonia. All want to go to Germany. Our job is just to register them."
Hungary has faced criticism for erecting a fence on the border with Serbia, as well as for refusing to let migrants board trains to Germany, the main destination for many.
EU President Donald Tusk called on member states yesterday to share the resettlement of at least 100,000 refugees -- far above the current agreement on 32,000.
France and Germany yesterday agreed to propose a permanent and mandatory system to take in refugees and asylum seekers, especially Syrians, in the European Union, President Francois Hollande said.
The EU is riven by frictions between transit nations where the migrants arrive by sea or land -- mainly Greece, Italy and Hungary -- and those where they hope to seek asylum, mainly in northern and western Europe.
In Britain, where Prime Minister David Cameron's government has accepted just 216 Syrian refugees, tens of thousands of people signed petitions demanding change.
Cameron yesterday said that Britain would stick to its present course on the issue of Syrian refugees, resisting calls to announce a sharp increase in the numbers to be given sanctuary in Britain.
Amid a public outpouring of emotion over the dead Syrian toddler's image, Cameron said he was "deeply moved" by the picture and that Britain would fulfil its moral responsibilities.
Europe is facing a huge influx on all sides, with more than 350,000 people crossing the Mediterranean in flimsy boats this year alone, the International Organisation for Migration says.
More than 350,000 people have arrived in Europe so far this year, seeking sanctuary from war or persecution or poverty, or just seeking a better life.
In Hungary, migrants forced from a train scuffled with helmeted riot police and some clung to railway tracks yesterday. Hungarian authorities who refused to let migrants board trains for Germany for days finally allowed hundreds onto a train bound for the Austrian frontier - only to halt it at Bicske, a town outside Budapest with an immigration registration centre.
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