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Refugee crisis live: Aylan Kurdi's death drives international pressure for Europe to act as people smugglers arrested in Turkey

More than 60,000 people have signed a petition started by The Independent calling on the Government to take in its fair share of refugees

Lizzie Dearden
Thursday 03 September 2015 13:26 BST
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The death of Aylan Kurdi has ramped up international pressure to stop refugees dying on their desperate journeys to Europe
The death of Aylan Kurdi has ramped up international pressure to stop refugees dying on their desperate journeys to Europe

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Four suspected human smugglers have been arrested following the death of Aylan Kurdi, a three-year-old boy from Syria who drowned alongside nine other refugees. Here are the latest updates:

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Aylan's death has highlighted the desperate plight of refugees seeking safety in Europe and turned scrutiny on countries' efforts to ease the crisis.

Police have detained four suspected human smugglers a day Aylan, his mother and brother drowned with nine other refugees while trying to reach Greek islands, according to Turkey's state news agency.

The Anadolu Agency said an organised crime squad caught the suspects, including at least one Syrian citizen, on a beach on Turkey's Bodrum peninsula.

They are due to be formally charged in a Turkish court today with acting as intermediaries for illegal migrant crossings.

The 12 migrants drowned when two boats carrying them from Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos capsized on Wednesday.

 

 

Meanwhile, in Hungary, thousands of migrants are trying to board trains to Germany and Austria after being barred from Budapest's main train station for two days by police.

Relations between European states are becoming strained as countries including Germany, France and Italy push for refugee quotas, while Hungary and other eastern nations increase border controls in efforts to keep people out.

This newspaper has started a campaign for the UK to welcome a fair share of refugees.

 

Click here to sign The Independent's petition

Additional reporting by AP

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