This photograph invokes terror, shock, anger and sadness at the same time and reminds us of the dangers migrants face in attempting to cross US borders. It is the face of nameless, lost lifeless bodies, which do not even make it to the statistics, in their urgency to cross over foreign borders.??
The place is ?Rio Grande, which is a part of US-Mexico border, and the heartbreaking image is of a Salvadoran father and daughter whose bodies washed up face-down.?
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Julia Le Duc
The toughening of US border policies worried the advocates who warned the authorities about the potential increase in the deaths at the border. Migrants seeking asylum are now forced to look for more dangerous avenues to cross the border. Reportedly there were?283 migrant bodies discovered?along the border in 2018.
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The man, in the photograph taken by journalist Julia Le Duc, is Oscar Alberto Martinez and his two year old daughter Angie Valeria Martinez, identified by the El Salvador officials. They drowned in Rio Grande¡¯s currents on Sunday trying to slip into the US.?
In the heart wrenching photo, the 2-year-old girl is tucked in her father¡¯s shirt and her arm is slung around the back of his neck. Their bodies shored near a bank where beer cans and soda bottles were discarded.?
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The photograph instantly gained attention online and Alexandra Hill, Salvadoran Minister of Foreign Affairs, acted on the news by pleading to her countrymen to stay and work along with the government to resolve the economic issues that are leading people to migrate to the US.?
She said, "Our country is in mourning, again. I beg you, to all the families, parents, don't risk it. Life is worth a lot more," as quoted by CNN. Nayib Bukele the newly elected President of El Salvador reportedly offered to help the family financially.?
Julia Le Duc
The heartbreaking picture is reminiscent of the 2015 picture of the three-year-old Syrian boy, Aylan Kurdi who became the symbol of all the Syrian children who were trying to escape the war torn country. He was just one of thousands who drowned in the sea. Aylan was of Kurdish origins, and his family like million other?refugees, was fleeing the tensed Syria,?to Canada.
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Aylan¡¯s family tried to sail out of Turkey on an inflatable boat, but drowned when it capsized somewhere in Greece. His mother Rihanna and brother Ghalib were among the thousand refugees who drowned.?
Alan would have been lost among those drowned bodies at the sea were it not for this photograph that stormed the internet.?
When the Turkish photographer for the Dogan New Agency Nil¨¹fer Demir went to the beach what she witnessed was a ¡°children¡¯s graveyard.¡± Aylan¡¯s body was shored half in the sand half in water; he still had his sneakers on.?
When the photo was shared by a Human Rights activist ?Peter Bouckaert, it went viral and became the face of all the innocent refugees, especially children who lost their lives in their attempt to reach safety.?
Now, Aylan's aunt Tima Kurdi has written a book titled The Boy On the Beach.