3 human traffickers sentenced in Turkey to 125 years each in death of Alan Kurdi

Three human traffickers have been sentenced in a Turkish court to 125 years each in the 2015 drowning of Alan Kurdi, the Syrian toddler whose death became a symbol of the global refugee crisis.

The three-year-old's tiny body was pictured lying face down on the beach of a southern Turkish shoreline. His family was fleeing to Greece in the hopes of eventually joining family in Vancouver when the 15-foot rubber raft carrying them capsized. Alan's five-year-old brother and mother also died.

As the image spread around the world, thousands of people rallied in support of the family and Canada's refugee policy was brought into question, even becoming a central issue in the 2015 federal election campaign.

Tima Kurdi, Alan's aunt, heard of the decision through her brother Abdallah, who survived the capsizing and is now in Erbil, Iraq.

Speaking from her home in Coquitlam, B.C., Kurdi said the sentencing five years later brings her some closure. But, as the person who paid the smugglers to bring her family to safety, she'll live with guilt for the rest of her life.

"It's a really mixed feeling," she said.

"I feel responsible, too, because I paid those smugglers the money for my family. But you know what — when you see your own family struggling and suffering, you'd do the same thing, we all reach to our loved ones and we try to help them."

Kurdi said that while her family, whose case ended up in the international spotlight, now has some kind of justice, she doesn't believe the sentences will dissuade smugglers who make their living by transporting refugees across treacherous waters.

"There are hundreds of families who lost their lives in that sea and it continues. This network, they need to stop," she said.

"I said it before and five years later I still say it. One or two people will not solve the refugee crisis. We need to end the war to end this."

Last month Turkey opened its doors for migrants trying to cross into Europe, sending thousands of refugees to the Greek border. 

According to the UNHCR, 5.6 million Syrians are refugees, and another 6.2 million people are displaced within Syria.