Author: Willem Staes
Willem Staes (@willemstaes) works as a researcher at Belgian NGO 11.11.11, focusing on the Syria crisis and the situation in Israel/Palestine. Before joining 11.11.11 in 2016, he worked and lived in Turkey, Palestine and Egypt.

On 21 September, a boat carrying almost 40 Syrian refugees sank off the coast of Lebanon. They’d paid a smuggler to help them reach the European Union through Cyprus. Luckily, they were all saved – that is, almost everyone. A 5-year-old child, Khaled Nijmeh, drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. (More…)