Image of Dead Child on Beach Haunts and Frustrates the World

The photo of the dead 3-year-old Syrian boy on a Turkish beach is haunting.It captures everything we don’t want to see when we tap our phones or open our newspapers: a vicious civil war, a refugee crisis, the death of an innocent.Largely because of soc...

ADDS IDENTIFICATION OF CHILD A paramilitary police officer carries the lifeless body of Aylan Kurdi, 3, after a number of migrants died and a smaller number were reported missing after boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized, near the Turkish resort of Bodrum early Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. The family — Abdullah, his wife Rehan and their two boys, 3-year-old Aylan and 5-year-old Galip — embarked on the perilous boat journey only after their bid to move to Canada was rejected. The tides also washed up the bodies of Rehan and Galip on Turkey's Bodrum peninsula Wednesday, Abdullah survived the tragedy. (AP Photo/DHA) TURKEY OUT

The photo of the dead 3-year-old Syrian boy on a Turkish beach is haunting.

It captures everything we don’t want to see when we tap our phones or open our newspapers: a vicious civil war, a surge of refugees, the death of an innocent.

The image of little Aylan Kurdi is hammering home the Syrian migrant crisis to the world, largely through social media. Aylan died along with his 5-year-old brother and their mother when their small rubber boat capsized as it headed for Greece.

“It is a very painful picture to view,” said Peter Bouckaert, who as director of emergencies at Human Rights Watch has witnessed his fair share of painful scenes. “It had me in tears when it first showed up on my mobile phone. I had to think hard whether to share this.”

Still, will the disturbing image galvanize people into action? Will it be like other seared-in-our-memory photographs—a vulture hovering over starving child in Sudan, a girl fleeing a napalm attack in Vietnam?