Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Flying high: how a photo of a Syrian father and son led to a new life in Italy

Flying high: how a photo of a Syrian father and son led to a new life in Italy

A tender moment captured by Mehmet Aslan of Munzir al-Nazzal and his son, both survivors of the Syrian war, prompted Italian organisations to act. A year on, they are settling into life in Tuscany

In January last year, while working on the Turkish-Syrian border, photojournalist Mehmet Aslan photographed a Syrian man, Munzir al-Nazzal, who had lost a leg in a bomb attack. Munzir was playing with Mustafa, his 5-year-old son, who was born without limbs, and the shot portrayed the father, propped up on a crutch, raising his smiling child into the air.

Aslan entitled his photograph Hardship of Life.

It was an image that was shared across the world and last October it was named photo of the year at the Siena international photo awards, moving the festival’s organisers and the Catholic church to take action over the little family, who were at that point languishing in a refugee camp in Turkey.

After lengthy negotiations between the Diocese of Siena, Caritas, a Catholic aid association, the organisers of the Siena photo awards and authorities in Turkey, Munzir and Mustafa arrived in Italy on 21 January.

“I will never thank the Italian people and the church enough for what they have done for us,” says Munzir, 33. “In these 11 years, no other country had moved to help us. And we will never forget it!”

Siena award’s photograph of the year 2021: Hardship of Life by Mehmet Aslan.


Munzir lost his right leg in 2014 when a bomb was dropped as he walked through a bazaar in Idlib, Syria. In 2017, his wife, Zeynep, was pregnant with Mustafa when, on 4 April, she was badly affected by a deadly sarin gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun, in north-west Syria, which killed 89 people. According to a UN report that year, Syrian government forces were behind the strike.

The medication Zeynep was given affected the baby and Mustafa was born without arms or legs due to Tetra-amelia syndrome, a congenital disorder.

“For 11 years, the president of Syria has waged war against his own people,” says Zeynep. “Because of the war, there are thousands of people there who have lost their legs and arms like my husband. And in my city, there were four pregnant women, victims of the sarin gas attack in Khan Sheikhun, whose children were born with the same malformation as Mustafa.”

Mustafa needs special electronic prostheses, which were not available in Turkey. Italian paediatricians, specialists and surgeons have visited the family since they arrived and are working to design artificial limbs.

All the doctors are working for nothing to try to give Mustafa the life and childhood the war took away from him. Even the contrade of Siena, the 17 city districts that famously compete in the biannual 90-second horse race around the Piazza del Campo, have offered their economic support to the family.

Munzir and Mustafa spend time in the Tuscan hills each day.


The Italian authorities worked with the UN refugee agency, the Turkish authorities and Caritas, which is offering food and a home to the Syrian family in a small village near Siena.

In the end, the Catholic church negotiated the passage of Mustafa and his family through Turkey, thanks to a humanitarian corridor, which allows for legal passage across countries, perhaps one of the most effective models for avoiding asylum seeker deaths and suffering, but unfortunately rarely used by European countries.

“I hope that Mustafa’s story and his new life in Italy can serve as a harbinger to raise awareness around Europe that the humanitarian corridor is the only dignified way to allow these people to reach Europe,” says Siena’s Cardinal Augusto Paolo Lojudice, who, alongside the Siena photo award’s founder, Luca Venturi, followed the negotiations to bring the family to Italy. “The humanitarian corridors require a dialogue between two countries, and unfortunately, this does not always happen. Where there is no stable government, as in Libya, it becomes difficult to propose a humanitarian corridor.”

In the past six years, Catholic associations and charities have brought to Italy more than 4,300 refugees from around the world.

Munzir says he barely noticed when Aslan took the original picture on 6 January last year: “I was doing what I do every day, playing with Mustafa.” Munzir says his son loves being raised in the air because it gives him the feeling of flying, a sense of physical freedom for a child born without limbs. Munzir plays with him every day here in Italy, surrounded by the beautiful Tuscan hills, which have taken the place of the decaying, grey buildings of the Turkish-Syrian border.

“The story of Mustafa and Munzir, who would not be here without that picture and the attention of the press, also serves to remind everyone, especially in these times, that war is nothing but the total destruction of every life,” says Lojudice.

“To remind that war is the terrifying action that man wages against another man, and therefore against himself. But this story also shows that there is something higher in this world. As a man of [the] cloth, I call it God – you can call it humanity.”

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Hungary's Prime Minister Criticizes NATO's Role in Ukraine
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Hungarian Scientist to Conduct 30 Research Experiments on the International Space Station
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
International Astronaut Team Launched to Space Station
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
Oil Prices Set to Surge After US Strikes Iran
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
×