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Donations dramatically surge for aid groups amid Syrian toddler death

Source: Xinhua | September 6, 2015, Sunday | Online Edition

MILLIONS of U.S. dollars were poured into aid groups assisting the hundres of migrating refugees around the Mediterranean by the weekend from Europe and the United States, as the world was touched by a photo showing a drowned Syrian toddler on a Turkish beach.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain would put up an extra 100 million pounds (153 million U.S. dollars) in humanitarian aid for the Syrian crisis, bringing London's total contribution to the crisis to more than 1.0 billion pounds (1.5 billion U.S. dollars).

Meanwhile, the children's charity UNICEF reported that donations had sky-rocketed since the picture of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying face down on the sand was released.

"Donations are up 105 percent," said a statement from the U.S.-branch of UNICEF.

"When the image really hit the web, page views spiked over 149 percent over same time previous day," it said.

The International Olympic Committee also launched an emergency 2-million-euro (2.2-million-U.S.-dollar) fund.

The Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station, which worked to help migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean from Libya, had by Friday received a record 600,000 euros (666,500 U.S. dollars) in pledges.

According to its spokesman, 10,000 euros (11,000 U.S. dollars) in a day would have been a good day before the photo was released.

French President Francois Hollande on Thursday called a meeting to deal with flows of migrants in wake of the picture.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls pressed for action to help thousands of migrants after two boats carrying 23 people capsized off Akyarlar, Turkey. Twelve people, possibly more, were thought to have drowned, among them the Syrian toddler and several children.

Referring to the drowned toddler, Valls said that "urgent action required - A Europe-wide mobilization is urgent," he wrote on Twitter.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 2,500 migrants have died so far this year while attempting to reach Europe by boat. This figure reflects the worsening migration crisis as continued violence and high levels of poverty in many African and Arab countries force thousands of people to seek refuge beyond their borders.

The photo of the trhee-year-old Aylan, who died along with his five-year-old brother and mother in a ill-fated journey to Greece, had stirred the hearts of people around the world.

On Friday, Abdullah Kurdi, the father of the toddler, buried the bodies of his wife and two little boys in their home town of Kobani in Syria.

Media and netizens are questioning what has turned the carefree toddler to another heart-sinking victim in the worsening crisis of migrating refugees around the Mediterranean.

A demonstration in solidarity with refugees brought about 300 people to gather in the center of historic Strasbourg on Saturday in order to demand that France and the Region of Alsace change their policies and accept more refugees fleeing instability and violence in their home countries.

"It is time that France and the French change their policy and accept more Syrians who are suffering," declared a spokesman for the Alsace-Syria Association.

He remarked that the Alsatians, well known for their generosity and hospitality, could accommodate more people fleeing conflict in Syria.

"And these are not migrants, these are refugees," he insisted.

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