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The father of Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian three-year-old whose body was photographed washed up on a Turkish beach, has recorded a message for Channel 4's alternative Christmas address calling on the world to "open its doors to Syrians".
Abdullah Kurdi lost Aylan, his four-year-old son Galip and his wife Rehan in September when the smugglers' boat they were travelling in from Turkey to Greece sank.
The images of Aylan's tiny lifeless body being picked up by a coast guard came to symbolise the horrors of the deepening global refugee crisis - but only had a limited effect on Western refugee policy.
Kurdi is expected to call for empathy for those fleeing the war in Syria, which has killed more than 250,000 and turned four million into refugees:
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. When a door is opened they no longer feel humiliated. At this time of year I would like to ask you all to think about the pain of fathers, mothers and children who are seeking peace and security. We ask just for a little bit of sympathy from you.
Alan Kurdi's father delivers Christmas message"Hopefully next year the war will end in Syria and peace will reign all over the world."The father of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose death shocked the world, delivers his Christmas message of hope.
Posted by Channel 4 News on Tuesday, 22 December 2015
This week, as winter sets in across the continent, the International Organisation for Migration said that more than one million refugees have entered Europe in 2015.
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