Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It's an image that captures the moment desperation gave way to joy for a refugee family who found sanctuary after fleeing terror.
The photograph of Laith Majid clasping his son and daughter after their flimsy boat arrived safely on the Greek island of Kos has struck a chord with thousands across the world since it was first published by the The New York Times on Sunday.
Freelance photographer Daniel Etter was deeply moved by the moment he had captured, posting to Facebook: "I might not be the most emotional person, but the father, Laith Majid, and his reaction when he and his family reached Greece still makes me cry."
"That's never happened to me before," Etter told the website of German news magazine Der Spiegel.
At a time when Australians are exposed to little information about the plight of asylum seekers as a result of the Abbott government's Operation Sovereign Borders, Mr Majid's pained expression has become the face of asylum seekers for many.
"Tony Abbott stopped the boats. At least his problem is gone. Look at this picture and try not to feel something," wrote Australian award-winning photojournalist Andrew Quilty in a post sharing Etter's photo to his Facebook page.
Mr Majid and his children were among 15 men, women and children abroad a flimsy rubber boat, which had crossed over from the Turkish resort town of Bodrum, Etter explained.
Mr Majid and his wife, a school teacher, fled their home in the war-torn Syrian city of Deir al-Zor with their three children.
"She told me it took them a long time to decide whether to leave their home or not," Etter said.
They paid over $US6500 (roughly $8000) for the final two-hour leg of their journey from Bodrum to Kos.
"After more than two hours of driving the boat had lost air, water had leaked into it, the refugees were soaked when they arrived at the shore. They were then completely relieved to have arrived safely," the 34-year-old photographer told Der Spiegel.
"In that moment it all came at them together, the joy of having done it; the love for their family; the grief over what had happened," he said.
All the words & TV reporting of the refugee crisis in a single photo. Humbled by @DanielEtterFoto pic.twitter.com/VCLmsWjsoR— Paraic O'Brien (@paraicobrien)
August 19, 2015
The image of this heavy-set man, with his burly frame and rough stubble in tears as he clutched his children has triggered an outpouring of compassion on social media.
Etter shared the photo on Twitter, writing: "I am overwhelmed by the reaction to this family's tears of relief. This is why I do what I do."
I am overwhelmed by the reaction to this family's tears of relief. This is why I do what I do. http://t.co/guDhQ2w5QU pic.twitter.com/Gu31bKDLMA— Daniel Etter (@DanielEtterFoto)
August 17, 2015
His tweet has been retweeted 1300 times. The same photo tweeted by al-Jazeera English online editor Barry Malone has been retweeted over 10,000 times.
To those who attack 'migrants' online. Look at this man, fleeing war in Syria, cradling his children. And rethink. pic.twitter.com/1pXEIGStvN— Barry Malone (@malonebarry)
August 16, 2015
What became of Mr Majid and his family once the moment passed?
Etter said he met Mr Majid's wife again in Kos. She was staying in a simple tent on the beach promenade. Her daughter had a high fever after the tiring journey, and one of her sons had not slept.
They were planning to move to a ferry where the Greek government had set up temporary camp. "Whether they [did] it, I don't know," Etter said.
Hundreds of Syrian refugees arrive on the Kos shore every day as the Greek coast guard conducts daily search-and-rescue operations in the Aegean Sea.
"Random Greeks getting up before sunrise to assist refugees arriving on the beach. Tears of joy and relief," Etter wrote in a separate Facebook post.
"I am dissolving into a puddle every morning," he said.
Record numbers of refugees have arrived in Greece this year.
About 160,000 migrants have reached Greece since January compared to 43,500 for all of 2014, according to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Over 20,800 migrants had arrived in Greece in the last week alone, almost all of them fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
The government chartered vessel, the Eleftherios Venizelos, left Kos on Wednesday local time bound for the Greek mainland.
The ferry carrying 1308 refugees from Kos will pick up hundreds more refugees on the islands of Leros and Lesbos. The boat is expected to arrive in Athens on Thursday morning.
A further 642 refugees were collected from more than half a dozen Greek islands and transported to the capital the same day.
"A dramatic increase in the number of refugees arriving in Lesbos and a lack of available space on ferries to the mainland risks leaving thousands stranded and overwhelming the limited support on the island," the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in a statement.
"Unless further ships are made available, the total number of refugees on Lesbos, which normally has a population of nearly 90,000 people, could rise to more than 20,000 before the ferry service is able to accommodate them," the IRC said.
