Two Syrian smugglers were sentenced on Friday to four years in prison for the death of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, the toddler whose body was found washed up on a beach in Turkey along with four other people.
The toddler was found dead in September on the shore near the Turkish resort town of Bodrum after the boat his family was aboard capsized while trying to reach the Greek island of Kos. Images of the child lying face down and dead on the shore were posted on several social media websites drawing the world’s attention to Europe’s refugee crisis.
The toddlers brother, five-year-old Galip and his mother, thirty-year-old Rehan were among five people who died.
According to the Anadolu News Agency, Muwafaka Alabash and Asem Alfrhad were convicted on Friday of human trafficking but found not guilty of causing the deaths through deliberate negligence.
Dr. Lorena Brownlee 