‘The Project’ Takes On Aylan Kurdi’s Story And The Refugee Crisis In Last Night’s Powerful Episode
"We're not stopping the boats, we're just pushing them around."
Horrifying photos of the European refugee crisis have been surfacing online over the past couple of weeks — families stranded at sea after a boat fleeing their war-torn home sinks; a mother trying to hold her infant above water; slews of bodies washing up on shores of neighbouring countries. The impact of these images came to a bit of a climax this week when one in particular sparked fresh global debate and outrage — drowned Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi face down in the sand, washed up on a Turkish beach.
Yesterday, British Prime Minister David Cameron committed to accepting thousands more Syrian asylum seekers, and this morning Austria and Germany agreed to open their borders to those trying to leave Hungary, where about 2,000 refugees have been stuck in limbo for days, without shelter or support.
Back home, Australia says it has already increased the number of asylum seekers it will accept by a couple of thousand — a number which, even by some Coalition MP’s standards, is extremely low in relation to the total number of those fleeing persecution (which is estimated to be in the millions) — and has recommended more air strikes as part of its ‘solution’. Tony Abbott has continued to spout rhetoric of “stopping the boats” like a glitching device stuck on Slogan Mode, and The New York Times criticised him and our country’s migration policies in a scathing editorial on Thursday.
This human highway took my breath away. For these refugees – and thousands more – all roads lead to Europe @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/kJZPcyljvO
— Brett Mason (@BrettMasonNews) September 4, 2015
Not one to shy away from such sobering events, Waleed Aly tackled this mounting international emergency on The Project last night, highlighting Aylan’s story and Australia’s part in the crisis.