Alan Kurdi's father to join migrant rescue ship named after son

The father of Alan Kurdi, the drowned Syrian boy whose death was captured in a photograph that shocked the world, is planning to join a German migrant rescue mission named after his son.

Abdullah Kurdi, 45, was asked about the Alan Kurdi rescue vessel, operated by German charity Sea-Eye, in a Sunday interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

Telling the daily he has remarried and his new wife is pregnant, Kurdi said: "As soon as my son is born, I will go on the ship to save migrants. I want to give them the help that I did not get"

Kurdi also praised Carola Rackete, the captain of Sea-Watch, another German migrant rescue mission, who was briefly placed under house arrest in Italy after flouting the country's strict immigration laws.

"She's a strong woman, a heroine. I know that she has also been put in prison. Well, if it's needed, I am also ready to be arrested," he said.

A spokesman for Sea-Eye, Gorden Isler, confirmed that the organization is in contact with Kurdi about him joining the Alan Kurdi mission.

In 2015, Kurdi's family tried to reach the Greek island of Kos from Bodrum in Turkey, but their rubber boat capsized and five people died, including his wife and two small children.

The report is based on Daily Sabah and agencies.