Obviously, the biggest stories of 2015 cover the continuing refugee crisis that deepens each day while efforts and help are flocking from around world to resolve the human tragedy of the 21st century. About 300 refugees fleeing to European countries on boats from Turkey's coastal cities like İzmir, Balıkesir, Çanakkale and Muğla have died on the way. Dozens of boats have capsized in the Aegean Sea. Operation Aegean Hope has rescued more than 90,000 refugees. The number of people survived has increased 500 percent compared to last year.
Based on the U.N.'s findings, Turkey has been the country to host the most number of refugees in 2015. More than 2 million Syrian and Iraqi citizens have taken shelter in Turkey with over $8 billion spent on refugees. Various governmental and nongovernmental organizations, institutions and donators, including artists, musicians, teachers and even university students still help refugees. The Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) also sends substantial humanitarian help to refugees.
Refugees, who recently survived a sunken boat, land near women practising their morning yoga in Turkey western coastal town of Bodrum.
Thousands of other refugees, on the other side, continue their lives at refugee camps in various countries. Some others have moved to big cities like Istanbul, where they are trying to establish a new life. The refugee crisis will, of course, will be on the agenda in 2016, too, but there are some refugee stories, especially about children, that will be remembered for years to come. ISTANBUL / DAILY SABAH
A Syrian refugee baby is held towards riot police at the Istanbul-Edirne highway as refugees wait for permission to pass the Turkish-Greek border in Edirne.
It didn't take long for the photo of a crying Ahmed Hamdo stained in blood to go viral. Based on Hamdo's account, a restaurant staff member dragged him outside as he was trying to sell tissues. "They hit me and trampled on me. I was about to pass out but some Syrians there helped me and gave me water," he said.
Two months later, Petra Laszlo, a Hungarian camerawoman, was the cause of another global outrage when she was seen tripping a man running with a child in his arms, and kicking another running child near the town of Roszke, close to the border with Serbia.
Osama Abdul Mohsen, a football coach working with the Syrian Premier League football team al-Fotuwa SC was the victim of the incident. Speaking to NBC News, Mohsen's oldest son Almuhannad said, "We lost our house in Syria after shelling by [Syrian President Bashar] Assad's forces." Both Mohsen and his 7-year-old son Zaid were running away from the police.
The father and son speaking to Anadolu Agency in their in Madrid, Spain.
In a letter to the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet, Laszlo said, "I panicked. I'm not a heartless, child-kicking racist cameraperson." She was fired from her job at N1TV, an Internet-based television station. Laszlo drew many harsh criticisms from around the world.
Mohsen (L), addresses journalists next to the director of the Spanish football coaching school CENAFE, Miguel Angel Galan (R) after arriving at Atocha train station in Madrid, on September 17, 2015. CENAFE, in the Madrid suburb of Getafe said on September 16, 2015, it is giving a job to Mohsen.
Sidra is only one of the Syrian refugee children who were forced to flee their homeland. This year, UNICEF's first ever 3D film has brought to life of a Syrian girl living in Za'atari refugee camp in the Jordanian desert. As part of the UNICEF project "UNICEF360°," viewers take a virtual journey into the refugee camp and the day of a young girl, Sidra.
Using a virtual reality headset, the short film "Clouds over Sidra" directed by Chris Milk, shows Sidra, her classroom and friends. Viewers also share a dinner with her family. "Clouds over Sidra" aims to raise awareness of the plight of the millions of displaced Syrians; to create solidarity with them; to amplify their voices and allow them to explain their realities in their own words," UNICEF reported.
"When you're sitting there in the room, you are not watching through a screen or window, you're with her. When you look down, you're sitting on the ground she's sitting on," says filmmaker Chris Milk. The footage has also been shown in Turkey.
The Clouds Over Sidra is being displayed in Davos.
Aylan Kurdi, a 3-year-old Syrian toddler whose dead body was found on the beach of popular resort town Bodrum, has become the symbol of the ongoing refugee tragedy. Again in September, a boat carrying Syrian refugees on their way to Greece capsized with five dead including this little boy whose photograph shook the world.
Kurdi's brother Galib and mother Rehan also died. His father Abdullah Kurdi was the only one to survive from the boat. The tragic photo of Aylan's lifeless little body went viral and soon was among the top trending topics with the hashtag #KıyıyaVuranInsanlık (humanity washed ashore).
While his father still lives in Iraq's Kurdistan region, some of Kurdi's relatives have taken shelter in Canada this week.
Tima Kurdi, third left, who lives in the Vancouver area, stands with her brother Mohammad Kurdi, Aylan's uncle, back right, and his family, after they arrived in Canada as refugees at Vancouver International Airport, Monday, Dec. 28, 2015, in Richmond, British Columbia.
