The heartbreaking pictures of Aylan Kurdi, the toddler washed up on a Turkish beach, have brought home the plight of tens of thousands of migrant families who risk it all to cross the Mediterranean for a better life in Europe.

During the summer MailOnline interviewed such families on the Greek island of Kos and Italy with very young children to ask them why they felt they are driven to such desperate and dangerous lengths.

I know getting to Europe was the right thing, even though we might drown. We simply had no choice.

Iraqi refugee Ibthal Aljryan, 26, from Baghdad, is travelling with her husband Haydar Bakli, 33, a car mechanic, and their daughters Omayma, five, and Amna, three.

SEE MORE: Here’s how you can help during the refugee crisis in Europe.

When sea water started coming into our boat during the crossing from Turkey [to the Greek island of Kos], everyone was screaming, the children were crying, people were praying out loud to God. It was terrible.