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3 September 2015updated 26 Jul 2021 8:06am

Who was the boy on the beach?

Photos of a drowned Syrian child are dominating the front pages. Who was he, and how did he end up washed up on the Turkish coast?

By Anoosh Chakelian

Britain’s conscience has been shaken this week by the images of a drowned toddler washed up on a beach in Turkey. The photos of the child, lying face down and lifeless on the shore, made almost every UK newspaper’s front page on Thursday morning.

So who is the child in this picture, which has succeeded where so many campaigners, charities, politicians and reporters have failed in bringing the urgency and desperation of Europe’s refugee crisis to the forefront of our minds?

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