Alan Kurdi's aunt urges William and Kate to ensure UK takes more Syrian refugees

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met with a family of Syrian refugees during their royal tour of Canada

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, with Syrian refugees Yosra Alamahameed and her daughter, Reemus, during their visit to the Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia New Welcome Centre (Getty Images )

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been urged to encourage the UK to take in more Syrian refugees by the aunt of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian child who drowned as his family tried to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

A shocking picture of Alan’s body washed up on the shore of a Turkish beach on 2 September 2015 became an iconic image of the refugee crisis.

His mother, Rehana, and five-year-old brother Galip also died.

Tima Kurdi said the royal couple should use “their power to deliver messages” to inspire Britain to do more to protect refugees and address the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

Speaking at her home near Vancouver in Canada, as William and Kate met with Syrian refugees on the second day of their Royal tour through the county, Ms Kurdi told Sky News: "They have the power to deliver messages and I hope when they see what we did in Canada it will inspire them, and when they go back home they will do something about it."

Recalling seeing the devastating pictures of her nephew last year, she said: "I know what kind of situation they were fleeing from and it was very, very upsetting and I felt so angry, I want to scream to the world that enough is enough."

The royal couple and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte arrived in Canada on Saturday to begin their week-long tour of the Commonwealth country.

On Sunday, William and Kate spoke with a family who had fled the civil war in Syria, during a visit with Canada's prime minister and his wife to the Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia (ISS).

Canada's government resettled 25,000 Syrian refugees between November 2015 and February this year - this included government-supported and privately sponsored refugees.

In the building's Hope suite, the royal couple sat down with the government-assisted refugee family, Alaa Al Mahameed, 36, and wife Yosra, 35, who came to Canada with their daughters Reemas, three, and two-year-old Reetaj, in August.

The family - who fled Syria in 2012 and struggled to start a new life in Jordan - are one of the first to live in the ISS’s on-site temporary housing.

William spoke to Mr Mahameed about the conflict in Syria asking: "Was there a lot of devastation in your town? How bad was the situation?"

He said he was relieved the children were born outside of Syria, in Jordan, adding: "It's been difficult. We hope that things would get better and we could return to Syria but unfortunately things have not improved."

Earlier this month, Alan Kurdi’s father, Abdullah Kurdi condemned politicians and the international community for failing to live up to its promise to do more to protect refugees.

Additional reporting by Press Association