‘Open doors to Syrian refugees'

The father of toddler Aylan Kurdi, whose lifeless body on a Turkish beach became a symbol of the refugee crisis, has made a Christmas appeal to the world to open its doors to Syrians fleeing conflict.

The message, to be broadcast by Britain's Channel 4 on Christmas Day, comes after the UN refugee agency said that more than one million migrants and refugees reached Europe this year. They included over 970,000 who made the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean.

Three-year-old Aylan died in September after his family, sheltering in Turkey from the war in Syria, decided to make a desperate bid to reach Greece in a flimsy inflatable boat.

"My message is I'd like the whole world to open its doors to Syrians. If a person shuts a door in someone's face, this is very difficult," Abdullah Kurdi says in the video message.

"When a door is opened they no longer feel humiliated," he adds, according to a transcript released by Channel 4.

13 MORE DROWN IN THE AEGEAN

At least 13 people including seven children, drowned when their overloaded boat capsized in the Aegean, police said yesterday, the latest tragedy involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe.

The small boat went down off the Greek island of Farmakonisi overnight, sending 29 people into the water, an official with the Greek port police told AFP.

Meanwhile, the Czech prime minister said Germany encouraged illegal immigration to Europe with its humanitarian response to the refugee crisis, reports Reuters.

"Germany has, for the time being, given precedence to the humanitarian aspects of the crisis over security issues," Bohuslav Sobotka told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung in an interview published in its yesterday's edition.

"Germany sent a signal that could be seen and heard in large parts of the Middle East and North Africa," he added.