Making it even harder to claim asylum will do nothing to prevent tragedies such as the drowning of a baby
The identification of the body of Artin Iran Nezhad in Norway brings a tragic migration story to an end. Artin, aged 15 months when his Iranian Kurdish parents tried to cross the Channel in a small boat, was reported missing when the vessel sank near Dunkirk last October and the rest of the family died. Since New Year’s Day, when a baby’s remains were found near Karmøy, forensic scientists have worked to identify them. This week it was announced that Artin’s body will be flown back to relatives in Iran for burial.
Like the photograph of Alan Kurdi’s lifeless body being lifted from the sea by a police officer in Turkey six years ago, the tale of a dead baby lost for months at sea is filled with pathos. What more graphic illustration could there be of the extreme risks taken by desperate migrants than the loss of the tiny children they would doubtless have done everything in their power to protect?
