The first refugee to drown in 2016 is a 2-year-old boy who was trying to cross into Europe from Turkey. The child was on a boat with 39 other refugees when it slammed onto the jagged rocks of a small Greek island on Saturday
Known only by his first name, Khalid, his death is the first that emergency responders have recorded in 2016. It will likely not be the last.
Photos of other victims of the same wreck show their faces and bodies bloodied from cuts. According to volunteers with the charity Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), which has been conducting rescue operations in the Aegean and Mediterranean for months, the child was on board a boat that shipwrecked on the remote island of Agathonisi. Read more…