Suspects in Turkey refugee drownings held in custody
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Two suspects arrested following the deaths of 12 refugees off the coast of southern Turkey last week including three-year-old Aylan Kurdi were remanded in custody Tuesday.
The men Syrian nationals named as Asem Akfrhat and Mwaffak Alhabash are believed to have organized the passage of the group to the Greek island of Kos. A third Syrian Alaa Assous was released pending trial. The men appeared in Mugla Penal Court accused of people smuggling and “causing multiple deaths through conscious negligence”. The court heard a search of their accommodation resulted in the confiscation of cash thought to be the profits of crime five mobile phones and a car. On Sept. 2 a dingy carrying a group of refugees overturned in the sea between Turkey and Kos resulting in the deaths of 12 people including eight children. Images of Aylan lying on the beach and his lifeless body being picked up by a gendarme dominated newspaper front pages and news bulletins around the world and led to a re-evaluation of Europe’s policy to migrants particularly those fleeing the Syrian civil war.