The father of a three-year-old boy who died after drowning on a refugee boat should take the blame, according to the chairman of the Lichfield and Burntwood branch of UKIP.
Alan Kurdi’s death made headlines around the world after images of his body washed up on a Turkish beach were published.
The news of the death of Alan, his brother and mother led to increased calls on the UK government to take in more refugees.
A petition has been launched calling on Lichfield District Council to offer a home to ten families.
But Peter Cope, chairman of the local UKIP branch, believes public sympathy is misplaced – and says that the boy’s father Abdullah is responsible for his children and wife’s deaths.
“The Prime Minister has only agreed to take in refugees because he has been harassed about the drowned three-year-old,” said Mr Cope.
“The response has been a knee jerk reaction from Cameron. He needs to stop being so weak and actually stand up to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“We have youngsters who have died from cancer in Lichfield and Burntwood, but local people aren’t getting up in arms about that.
“The father of that little boy is to blame – he got him killed.
“The family were in Turkey, which isn’t a warzone. Islamic State as far as I’m aware isn’t active in Turkey. The country is well protected because they have a strong military.
“But still he put them onto a boat and into danger.”
