Shocking image reveals 'true horror' of refugee crisis

Rightly or wrongly, it has long been the tradition of news media companies, including this one, to not publish some of the most disturbing photographs that emanate from war zones, areas of conflict and man-made or natural disasters.

When we do, we face accusations of being insensitive, offensive or deliberately sensationalist.

We have, therefore, not taken lightly the decision to publish today this deeply disturbing photograph of a Syrian boy washed up on a beach in Turkey, drowned when the boat he was travelling in capsized in the watery graveyard that the Mediterranean has become for over two and a half thousand refugees.