PARIS—Five months ago, a 3-year-old Syrian boy’s corpse on a Turkish beach galvanized public action for refugees. Now, strikingly similar images are generating little more than a collective shrug.
It’s partly about timing, circumstance and the exceptional power of last September’s photos of Aylan Kurdi.
But it’s also because sensitivities are growing dull. Boats arrive on Europe’s shores daily, or sink on the way—like the one that capsized off Turkey’s coast on Saturday, killing at least 37 people including babies and other young children.
Images from the latest tragedy, including the bodies of children, failed to generate the same level of shock.
Fears—that refugees will stage extremist attacks or molest women—threaten to displace compassion. And Europe has yet to find the magic solution to its migrant dilemma.
“The public seems to be kind of immunized. They don’t want to see it anymore,” said Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
