"Haunting Image Of Drowned Boy Sums Up Consequences Of 'The Syrian War'"

speedboatchase · 03-09-2015 07:19AM

That image is heartbreaking and cannot be unseen. But it's masochistic of Europe to think it is to blame.

Why not blame Assad's response to unrest in Syria, or ISIS running amok, or international smugglers taking a fast buck and putting hordes of people on leaky boats? Or even the parents of the boy, who were in a safe country (Turkey) and chose to put him in harm's way for a second time by climbing aboard another boat?

What could Europe have done to save this boy? Genuine question. And how does this change your view of how EU countries should deal with the crisis? Personally my view remains that we should take in Syrian refugees but have stringent policies (which are overwhelmed in Greece and Italy) to distinguish those who are genuine refugees or not - not of this Al Jazeera nonsense that everyone is a refugee and everyone should be taken care of, which would be suicidal for the EU and the entire concept of nation states and borders.

Streetwalker · 03-09-2015 07:38AM

Zambia wrote: »

Now imagine that boy was Irish.

Why? He's not Irish.

Merrion · 03-09-2015 07:41AM

Zambia wrote: »

Now imagine that boy was Irish.

Imagine if he was yours

petrolcan · 03-09-2015 07:44AM

tonycascarino wrote: »

Many of those claiming to be 'refugees' are clearly economic migrants using the 'refugee' card to try get themselves a better deal in Europe.

Is that opinion, or fact?

Yurt2 · 03-09-2015 07:47AM

Muahahaha wrote: »

Millions upon Millions? :rolleyes: Have you got a source for that or are you just plucking figures out of your arse?

sez yer man who likes to pick figures out of his hole; "millions and millions":rolleyes:

That's a huge sense of entitlement you have there lad. Did you not know that by being born in Ireland you are automatically in the richest 2% of the 7 billion people in this world. And if you earn an average wage here then you are in the top 1% of those 7 billion people. Despite your being more wealthy than 98% of people on this planet you actually want a free house? Get a grip lad, you have zero perspective and fcuk all empathy for fellow human beings.

[/B]
I thought that EU law was dumped back in 2007?

sez the keyboard warrior with the bad facts lol

North of 4 million have fled Syria alone, these people are lining up to get into Europe. Get a clue and learn to spell.

AudreyHepburn · 03-09-2015 07:53AM

The ignorance of some posters here is astounding and worrying.

These people are fleeing from countries which have been torn apart by war and are slowly being taken over by a radical Muslim terrorist group prepared to destroy anyone and everything standing in their way and all you can say is they are only coming to sponge of us and that we are clearly suffering much more than them?

The selfishness and wilful ignoring of the suffering of these people is beyond belief.

No child should die in freezing water fleeing in fear for their lives.

We can support these people and we, as good decent human beings, should stop and nothing to do so.

Streetwalker · 03-09-2015 07:56AM

Merrion wrote: »

Imagine if he was yours

Ok i'll bite. I wouldn't have risked drowning him I'd have stayed in Turkey. Turkey is safe.

Streetwalker · 03-09-2015 07:57AM

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

The ignorance of some posters here is astounding and worrying.

These people are fleeing from countries which have been torn apart by war and are slowly being taken over by a radical Muslim terrorist group prepared to destroy anyone and everything standing in their way and all you can say is they are only coming to sponge of us and that we are clearly suffering much more than them?

The selfishness and wilful ignoring of the suffering of these people is beyond belief.

No child should die in freezing water fleeing in fear for their lives.

We can support these people and we, as good decent human beings, should stop and nothing to do so.

You are clearing out the spare room as we speak then I guess?

Massimo Cassagrande · 03-09-2015 08:00AM

Smidge wrote: »

I've read the thread.
I saw the picture of that little boy and its heartbreaking. What age is he roughly? 3/4?

I have a 4 yr old boy upstairs(FINALLY !!)asleep and he isn't my child.
I'm not going into too much detail for the sake of it but the gist is this.
Friends husband lost job.
Then he lost his life.
...........

But is the answer to even further burden a state that has overlooked her own children?
Sadly,and I genuinely wish there was enough to around. But there isn't.

I'd like to thank this a few more times if I could.

Ireland doesn't have much history of minding it's own poor and vulnerable, but now we are going to start wringing our hands and raising a hue and cry. Charity begins at home. Sort out our own problems, then we can see what capacity is left to sort out the rest of the worlds.

AudreyHepburn · 03-09-2015 08:02AM

Streetwalker wrote: »

You are clearing out the spare room as we speak then I guess?

As we speak? Well as I'm on the train my way to work as we speak no I'm not tidying anything.

But if the government were to being taking in these people and requesting places for them to stay, I'd open my door without hesitation.

Merrion · 03-09-2015 08:08AM

Streetwalker wrote: »

Turkey is safe.

Not if you are Kurdish

Streetwalker · 03-09-2015 08:08AM

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

As we speak? Well as I'm on the train my way to work as we speak no I'm not tidying anything.

But if the government were to being taking in these people and requesting places for them to stay, I'd open my door without hesitation.

Fair play to you. You'll be as welcoming for all our own homeless of course.

03-09-2015 08:09AM

Streetwalker wrote: »

You are clearing out the spare room as we speak then I guess?

I'd imagine many Irish people would, if told a particular family were to be housed or they would be drowned.

Wouldn't you?

AudreyHepburn · 03-09-2015 08:13AM

Streetwalker wrote: »

Fair play to you. You'll be as welcoming for all our own homeless of course.

Yes I would.....stop trying to show me up, it won't work.

Streetwalker · 03-09-2015 08:13AM

Deleted User wrote: »

I'd imagine many Irish people would, if told a particular family were to be housed or they would be drowned.

Wouldn't you?

If they where Irish for sure if they where from Syria no chance.

ComfortKid · 03-09-2015 08:17AM

All the posters saying we should be ashamed of ourselves, get real! Why should we, we didn't cause this so we have no blame!

Yes it's sad that these people are running for there lives, and I think we should accommodate genuine refugees but we should not be ashamed of ourselves. The usual suspects should be ashamed for starting this whole mess ie America, Uk,

AudreyHepburn · 03-09-2015 08:19AM

Streetwalker wrote: »

If they where Irish for sure if they where from Syria no chance.

And apart from country of origin the difference is what exactly?

Do you have any idea how selfish and ignorant you sound?

Melisandre121 · 03-09-2015 08:24AM

The ignorance and lack of empathy for human suffering on here is astounding.

kidneyfan · 03-09-2015 08:25AM

The Canadians refused this family asylum. Contemptible Canada.

kidneyfan · 03-09-2015 08:26AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Disgusting remark.

Utterly disgusting.

Well said.

Yurt2 · 03-09-2015 08:27AM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Disgusting remark.

Utterly disgusting.

Deleted and withdrawn. Apologies for offense caused, it was an ignorant remark.

Yurt2 · 03-09-2015 08:28AM

kidneyfan wrote: »

Tedious false ire.

I actually agree with him, shouldn't have posted that.

03-09-2015 08:29AM

Streetwalker wrote: »

If they where Irish for sure if they where from Syria no chance.

So you would decide the merits of whether someone lives or dies solely on the basis of where they were born. You would see a foreign child drown rather than go through the inconvenience of giving him or her a room?

We differ.

gandalf · 03-09-2015 08:30AM

speedboatchase wrote: »

That image is heartbreaking and cannot be unseen. But it's masochistic of Europe to think it is to blame.

Why not blame Assad's response to unrest in Syria, or ISIS running amok, or international smugglers taking a fast buck and putting hordes of people on leaky boats? Or even the parents of the boy, who were in a safe country (Turkey) and chose to put him in harm's way for a second time by climbing aboard another boat?

What could Europe have done to save this boy? Genuine question. And how does this change your view of how EU countries should deal with the crisis? Personally my view remains that we should take in Syrian refugees but have stringent policies (which are overwhelmed in Greece and Italy) to distinguish those who are genuine refugees or not - not of this Al Jazeera nonsense that everyone is a refugee and everyone should be taken care of, which would be suicidal for the EU and the entire concept of nation states and borders.

TBH it is a combination of blame. Yes I would say the initial blame lives with the repressive regime of Assad. Then add in the nut-jobs of Isis, they only exist because the second gulf war destablised the whole region by creating a power vacuum in Iraq, the Iranians have some blame too. Then you have the nations who are currently bombing Syria and some parts of Iraq where Isis are.

However attributing blame doesn't stop four year olds drowning in the Med does it. Action does. I agree with you only Genuine refugees should be allowed in. So how do we facilitate this. The EU needs to get resources to the countries being battered with waves of people at the moment and help them with the processing. It needs to transport away the economic migrants and it needs to get all the countries in the EU to step up to the plate and take their fair share, especially the countries who have been bombing Syrian targets.

I read a lot about WW2 and with hindsight I wonder why nations did not help more with the plight of the Jews running from Nazi Germany? The arguments being spouted by some on this thread mirror the arguments from back in that dark time. We need to learn from history and help these people out. I'm a father of a five year old boy, that picture hit me very hard when I saw it yesterday. These people are fleeing for their lives, risking their lives and the lives of the families with the hope that they will escape the hell and horror in their country. I realise that people have it hard here in Ireland. I was out of work for a year and half and it was very tough but at the end of the day I don't live in a war zone. The hardships I suffered and others are suffering really pale into comparison with the murder and mayhem that some of the refugees have experienced.

AudreyHepburn · 03-09-2015 08:32AM

Over the last few tens of thousands of Irish people have boarded boats and planes in search of better lives and they have been welcomed into other countries with open arms, as they should.

Yet many in this country think it is acceptable for us, now in the position of being looked to for help, to turn our backs?

The self entitlement and lack of empathy in this country really worries me sometimes.

LorMal · 03-09-2015 08:34AM

ComfortKid wrote: »

All the posters saying we should be ashamed of ourselves, get real! Why should we, we didn't cause this so we have no blame!

Yes it's sad that these people are running for there lives, and I think we should accommodate genuine refugees but we should not be ashamed of ourselves. The usual suspects should be ashamed for starting this whole mess ie America, Uk,

Sorry, but that is just too glib. The Syrian conflict is an uprising against a brutal dictatorship. Unfortunately, many of the rebels are fundamentally religiously motivated and equally brutal.

The level of violence and atrocity is off the scale. We see little of this as it is too dangerous for western reporters. And then we have ISIS - a criminal gang exploiting the situation to undertake an horrific campaign of rape, theft and murder.

Usually, in such situations, the Americans and the British go in (generally as the spearhead of a UN or NATO mission). Obama has learned the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan and has refused to deploy on the ground against ISIS.

The problem is that if the west does not get involved, ISIS is going to get stronger and the situation is going to get worse. And the Syrian civil war is going to continue as each side is funded by different external parties (Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia are all involved.)

ComfortKid · 03-09-2015 08:37AM

Funny how this 1 picture seems to upset so many people, but nothing of the thousands of Palistinian kids being slaughtered by Israel every year.

QuinDixie · 03-09-2015 08:38AM

there is only one solution to stop deaths like this, the EU strengthening their borders and having a zero tolerance to these economic migrants.
Unless the borders are controlled, There will be social upheaval in Europe on a scale of the aftermath of World War 1.
Its a ticking time bomb.

gandalf · 03-09-2015 08:39AM

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Over the last few tens of thousands of Irish people have boarded boats and planes in search of better lives and they have been welcomed into other countries with open arms, as they should.

Yet many in this country think it is acceptable for us, now in the position of being looked to for help, to turn our backs?

The self entitlement and lack of empathy in this country really worries me sometimes.

Unfortunately it is in our DNA to turn our backs.

This is the policy statement from the Dept of Justice in 1948 explaining why were weren't taking Jewish refugees from Europe.

It has always been the policy of the Minister for Justice to restrict the admission of Jewish aliens, for the reason that any substantial increase in our Jewish population might give rise to an anti-Semitic problem

AudreyHepburn · 03-09-2015 08:39AM

ComfortKid wrote: »

Funny how this 1 picture seems to upset so many people, but nothing of the thousands of Palistinian kids being slaughtered by Israel every year.

Can we not be outraged by more than one atrocity once? Can we discuss them one at at time?

And what in the world do you mean by saying no-one cares about Palestine?

I seem to recall worldwide outrage when Israel invaded the Gaza strip not so long ago.

"Haunting Image Of Drowned Boy Sums Up Consequences Of 'The Syrian War'"

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