Sometimes it takes a picture or two to really jolt people into paying attention, something that these photos from a beach near the Turkish town of Bodrum seem to have achieved.

The body of a lifeless young boy, among the 12 Syrians who drowned trying to flee Syria and reach Greece, pretty much sums up how desperate the situation is in that part of the world. The Guardian reports:

Turkish media identified the boy as three-year-old Aylan Kurdi and reported that his five-year-old brother had also met a similar death. Both had reportedly hailed from the northern Syrian town of Kobani, the site of fierce fighting between Islamic state insurgents and Kurdish forces earlier this year.

Turkish officials, corroborating the reports, said 12 people died after two boats carrying a total of 23 people, capsized after setting off separately from the Akyarlar area of the Bodrum peninsula. Among the dead were five children and a woman. Seven others were rescued and two reached the shore in lifejackets but hopes were fading of saving the two people still missing.

The casualties were among thousands of people, mostly Syrians, fleeing war and the brutal occupation by Islamic fundamentalists in their homeland.

Some estimates put the amount of refugees who have entered Greece at around 205 000, 69% of which come from Syria. As ISIS continues to run rampant you’d only expect that number to grow, despite the fact that the escape process itself may be the most dangerous part of all.

[source:guardian]