On 'Aylan Beach', It's Business as Usual

The refugee crisis shaking the world has come to be narrowly defined as Syrians fleeing the war, trying to enter Europe. But the ones trying to enter the West are only a small fraction - less than 10 per cent of the millions of refugees for whom Europe remains out of reach. All this week, on Exodus, a special series on NDTV, we trace the invisible roots of the refugee crisis from its point of origin along the Syria Turkey border to the gates of a divided Europe.

BODRUM, TURKEY: A late night drive from the town of Bodrum on Turkey's western edge brings us to Kemer beach. We had been told that a boat of refugees was leaving from the beach in the early hours of dawn on Friday.

But we arrived to strong winds, whipping the water into waves lit by the intermittent glow from a lighthouse.

"They (the traffickers) bring the boat here and they have to inflate it just on the beach. It takes 15 minutes," said Veysi, who manages a restaurant in the area. "The refugees would already be waiting nearby," he said.

Kemer is not just any beach on the Turkish coast launching refugee boats to Europe - it was there that Aylan Kurdi's body washed up a month ago, after a boat carrying his family and other Syrian refugees capsized in the Aegean Sea between Bodrum and Greece.  

Veysi told us he didn't go to see Aylan's body there that morning. "It was not just Aylan; there were 11 bodies. Some of those who saw the bodies on the beach are still disturbed," he said.

And yet, the beach remains an active launch point. On the night we arrived, no boats would go out. The water was too rough. A low hill overlooking the beach, dense with shrubbery, has served as a hideout for refugees till they get the go ahead from smugglers. That night, it was deserted except for traces from previous vigils: flattened cardboard crates, doubling up as sleeping bags.

As we made our way down the hill, a police van patrolled the road. Our guide told us these are demonstrations of authority by an otherwise indifferent state. "I have heard that in three days, the police will allow the boats to leave," he said.

In Basmane, the smuggling hub in the town of Izmir, north of Bodrum, a smuggler, identified only as Seyhmus, told us that nothing has changed since Aylan's death. Each journey continues to cost between 1,000-1,200 dollars per person. The smugglers continue to describe their trade as a humanitarian effort, even though the boats remain overcrowded, with a high risk of drowning.

Just a week ago, another boat had gone down, killing 17 Syrians attempting the same crossing. "Whenever a boat goes out, I cannot sleep", Seyhmus said. But then he described the three types of boats that are used, with the numbers that each boat carries, an admission that the practise of overcrowding continues "There are four types of boats, between 11 and 33 metres long. On the 30-metre boat, we take up to 60 people," he said.

The numbers of smugglers, too, has not dwindled but appears to have increased. "We are in thousands", said Seyhmus, when asked how many people are involved in the trade.

Outside, on the streets of Basmane, a young boy stood on a corner in a bright orange life jacket, not a refugee but a human billboard advertising these flimsy flotation devices. Perhaps some child like him will wear it tonight while making the journey. Perhaps that child will be luckier than Aylan.