Thread by @jenanmoussa

1/ The haunting image of Oscar Ramirez & 2-yr-old daughter Valeria reminds many of Alan Kurdi, 2-yr-old Syrian refugee who drowned trying to reach Europe with family in 2015.

Alan was from Kobane, Syria. I'm in Kobane where I met his family: "the pain never goes away."

@akhbar

2/ As I entered house of Abdu Kurdi (Alan's uncle) we sat down for tea.

This is a family in pain.

When I looked at Abdu &his sister with a sleeping child in the middle, the sight was eerie to me. "In our family we all sleep on our tummy," Abdu said, "That's how Alan was found."

3/ Abdu Kurdi held an image showing 3 ppl: Alan, Alan's elder brother Ghaleb + Alan's mother Rihana (Abdu's sister).

They all drowned that day.

"We have no pictures of them on the wall," Abdu said, "Too painful to look at them every day. We only keep this one image hidden away"

4/ Abdu Kurdi & rest of the family in Kobane hardly ever visit the grave of the three.

4 yrs might seem a long time to an outsider but to this family it's like yesterday. "Emotionally we can't do it," Abdu said, "We r still in shock. Things have never been the same since then."

5/ It's easy for the outside world to judge families for leaving their countries of origin and take risks while trying to make it to Europe or U.S.

Reason is often a mix of war, poverty, no prospects. While in Kobane, I passed house where Alan Kurdi, his parents &brother lived.

6/ On top of poverty and harsh economic situation, the family of Alan Kurdi suffered a terrible ordeal as their city Kobane was attacked by ISIS in september 2014.

Almost the whole civilian population was forced to flee to Turkey as their city was destroyed.

7/ Alan Kurdi's entire family also fled to Turkey after ISIS attack on Kobane.

After ISIS was defeated, early 2015, part of family went back to Kobane &started to rebuild their destroyed houses. Alan's parents decided to stay in Turkey as they were not sure Kobane was safe yet.

8/ Alan's parents were right not to return yet to Kobane. Because on 25 June 2015, ISIS launched a surprise attack on the town.

In 3 days, they murdered 230 Kurdish civilians in the streets & houses of Kobane. Alan's family lost 13 members in this attack, says Alan's uncle Abdu.

9/ After ISIS massacre, Alan's father decided there was no future in Kobane.

In search of a new beginning, he paid for a spot on a small boat to Greece.

The rest is history. Except for Alan's father, all drowned.

RIP Alan, Ghaleb, Rihana, Oscar, Valeria and 1000s more.