Tears and Social Media Shares Are Not Enough to Honor Alan Kurdi's Legacy: One Year Later

Will the world remember one year ago when the body of young Alan Kurdi was found washed ashore a Turkish beach after He drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean into Greece?  

I remember sitting in a small cafe in Amman, Jordan when his picture first came across my computer screen. As an intern with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Jordan at the time, I regularly read the stories of refugees and victims of displacement who lost their lives because of the Syrian conflict. But, for some reason, Kurdi’s story was different. Alan Kurdi became the first international symbol of the plight of Syrian refugees. His picture received millions of views, retweets, and a flood of tears from people around the world. For a brief period of two weeks, the world saw a glimpse of the reality that I and thousands of other humanitarian workers saw daily through the refugees who fled to Jordan. 

One year later, Kurdi’s story will be retold. Tears will be shed. Syrian refugees will make a brief presence in the news media, and social media as a trending topic. When does this cycle inspire action that extends beyond a click or a share?

 In a recent interview with The Telegraph , Kurdi’s father accuses the international community of turning its back on Syria. 

“Everyone claimed they wanted to do something because of the photo that touched them so much. But what is happening now? People are still dying and nobody is doing anything about it.” -Abdullah Kurdi

According to Newsweek , an average of two migrant children have died every day since September 2015. That is over 600 children drowning in one year. Kurdi’s photo educated the world on the Syrian refugee crisis, but it has ultimately failed to inspire any real change from the international community.

The root cause of this growing tragedy is the protracted crisis in Syria that grows increasingly complex each day. Without any solutions on the horizon, more photos will be taken, more glimpses will be seen, and more tears will be shed. But, what good will this do? Tears and social media shares are not enough. If Alan Kurdi’s death, photos of the injured and shocked Omran Daqneesh, and the stories of thousands of innocent children exposed to the Syrian conflict are not enough, then what is?