In the past month and a half, the Syrian Refugee Crisis has been all over the news. The explosion of media coverage over the plight of Syrian refugees began when 3-year-old, Aylan Kurdi, was found washed ashore, lifeless on a Turkish beach.

Unfortunately, Aylan Kurdi is one of many Syrians to die while in search of a better life in Europe.

So, why exactly did Aylan Kurdi die? What is driving hundreds of thousands of people to risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean in tiny fishing boats?

In the case of Syria, located in the Middle East, the problems first began in 2011. Fifteen children were arrested and brutally tortured for painting anti-government graffiti on the wall of a school, in the city of Daara. The community was outraged and peacefully protested for the release of the children and for democracy in the police state. The government responded to this by opening fire on the protestors, killing four people, and sparking unrest that quickly spread throughout the country.

This unrest has led to a civil war between the government under President Bashar al-Assad and rebel-opposition groups that continues today. There are supposedly around 1,000 rebel groups, that are not united but would all be in favor of Assad stepping down.

In 2014, the extremist group, the Islamic State, began to take advantage of the civil war in Syria, and started taking over large areas of land. Most opposition-rebels do not agree with IS, because they unjustly and violently target anyone who does not agree with their extreme views. The opposition-rebels are now engaged in fighting with them as well as dealing with the other problems of a civil war. Some more extreme Syrian rebels have joined IS and become part of the Islamic State of Syria, but it is mostly made up of foreign fighters.

All of this fighting has created a situation where ordinary Syrians are forced to leave their homes in fear and escape to other countries. This has caused one of the largest refugee movements in recent history as four million people have fled Syria since the beginning of the civil war.

Getting to Europe is risky, as refugees usually have to pay smugglers huge sums of money to get them across the Mediterranean. Sometimes the smugglers don’t follow though and just take the money. If the smugglers do follow through, the journey across the water is dangerous; the boats are generally overcrowded and the voyages are made at night. This overcrowding can cause the boat to capsize and cause people to die, like in the case of Aylan Kurdi.

For those refugees who do make it to Europe, they are then faced with the daunting process of being granted asylum, with the goal of one day being able to acquire citizenship. So far, this will not be a reality for a while as European officials struggle to accommodate and process the vast number of refugees coming into their countries. The process for being granted asylum as a refugee is not guaranteed and can take a long time; many more refugees apply for asylum than are granted asylum.

I encourage you to read more about the Syrian refugee crisis as well as exploring the reasons many other groups of peoples are also risking their lives to get to Europe. This is a crisis that needs attention, and it is only by giving it attention that change will occur and people will be given the help they need.