Joyce Fegan: How many more photos of babies in dire straits is it going to take?

"No one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land"

A member of the Spanish Guardia Civil holding a migrant baby in the water off the shore of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on May 19. Photo: AFP/Spanish Guardia Civil

The baby was "rigid, white", soaked to the bone, its hat and babygrow out of place in the sea and against rain. The baby was so young it still could not hold the weight of its own head.

The baby was held in the arms of a man, a stranger, his eyes narrowed to a laser-sharp focus, such was the precision needed to complete the task at hand.