I think this man should be chrged with extreme child abuse

Jingle, I find your views on this man to be brutal sorry, think this is the most distressing thread I have ever read . If he was such an uncaring man why didn't he just walk away on his own.

He made the wrong choice, I too have made choices, he believed liars, I too have believed liars , so I cannot condemn him for being less perfect than me because he isn't.

I have compassion for the children.

I would think it highly unlikely that his wife could swim, women are not expected to be seen on the beaches, nor his children.
Unlike the Calais Jungle (predominantly young, male economic migrants) where wives and children have been effectively abandoned in their home countries, this family clearly were hoping for a future, any future other than staying in Syria with IS rule looking likely.

Blame the people traffickers, they're the ones raising (false?) hopes, taking the money and condemning so many to a horrible death by putting them in unseaworthy boats, abandoning others and so on.

In reply to OP? No, he shouldn't be accused, absolutely no way poor man. Show some compassion for goodness sake.

unless this is a blatant lie

The camps in Turkey for Syrian refugees are good. Conditions not so good for those not in camps. I don't know if this family was in a camp or not, but if not, a safer goal would surely have been to try to get into a camp?

He is such a selfish man why didn't he walk away, leave his family ?

Are these people to be condemned because they think Europeans care and want to help them , will understand why they want their families to have homes not live in camps for years ?

Babies are dying in refugee camps, so if he had stayed put and the baby had died would it still be his fault for not getting his family out?

If God forbid I was in his position with my family ie bombs flying all over, house destroyed, no more work etc - I think I would try adjoining countries first. Some of them (arab countries) have taken a lot of Syrian refugees. Or try to go east to the 'Stans via N. Iran . At least you would be among people of your own religion.
That's what happened in WW2 with many refugees from Germany, they moved around Europe.
The risks involved in crossing the Med. or the Aegean are so great unless in a boat designed for the purpose, especially this time of the year with winter storms etc.

It's harsh but I've had the same thought as jings. The parents are putting their children at risk.

A good proportion of them perished once they arrived in America* too.

*I'm including Canada

Well said, farnorth. Plenty of European emigrants hoping for a better life in America perished on the journey across the Atlantic. Fundamentally this is no different.

maddieb some of the camps are like towns, well -organised with schools etc. Others are a huddle of sad little makeshift shelters.
Some refugees have moved on from the camps to live and work in Turkish towns and villages.

Jinglebells - I admit that was my first thought too - odd that he survived and not one of the rest of his family. #just saying

Well, if blaming everyone else makes for a clear conscience carry on

I hope that there is a faith in the future in the refugee camps - that they may go back to rebuild a free Syria one day.

I can't imagine the conditions they are living under to put their families and children in this kind of danger....obviously stuck between a rock and a hard place and thought braving the sea was the right thing to do. I know there will be economic refugees but I can't class the families fleeing war torn countries as this. I won't be judging any one.

I do not think we can judge - we are not there, either in Syria, or in the refugee camps. This family made a poor judgement under the persuasion of the ruthless traffickers. These are the people who need to be stopped. I am not clear what is being done to achieve this.

We are helping to bomb - yes, his enemy.

Perhaps drowning is better than being kept in a camp with no hope , can't go back and can't go forward , not wanted in this country because they would lower our standard of living , poor little mites

In past times, many British people have set off in risky ships for faraway destinations, and a lot of them didn't make it.
No-one considers that they were abusing anyone or being reckless.

Rosequartz, I said - we are helping to bomb .

Jingle wants this poor man jailed because he left a refugee camp.

Bloody typical, the worse human crisis in our life time and attack the victims

And this from mothers and grandmothers , God help us , a great example of mans inhumanity to man

I would tend to agree with your last post jingls re waiting it out in the refugee camps.

But the traffickers go round persuading people they can help them get to a better life. They charge a lot for risky little boats - no life jackets, just a promise of a 'better future'.

Those children had time to wait it out in a refugee camp.

And many of them are Syrians making a fast buck out of the misery of their compatriots

What a nasty, cynical, judgemental post, jingl. This man truly believed that he was taking his family to a better life. The fact that he was wrong will stay with him for the rest of his own life. If punishment is warranted, as you believe, surely that will be more than enough.