UK faith leaders have used the anniversary yesterday of the death of three-year-old Alan Kurdi to urge the government to do more to help child refugees.

The image of the Syrian boy's body washed up on a Turkish beach caused international outrage when it was shared around the world and sparked calls for a solution to the migrant crisis.

Tens of thousands of people from African and the Middle East have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

The letter signed by 42 Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders including former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams says: 'Three years ago today, Alan Kurdi, a three-year-old Kurdish refugee, drowned because he had no safe route to sanctuary in Europe. The lives of more than 9,000 people fleeing war and persecution have been lost in the Mediterranean since that little boy's death.

'This autumn Britain will mark a more hopeful anniversary. Eighty years ago, the Kindertransport was launched, a rescue operation that saved 10,000 Jewish and other refugee children from Nazi persecution.

'Now it is our turn to honour that legacy by helping more child refugees to find safety here. On this anniversary we call on the government to match the efforts of the Kindertransport and establish a lasting route to protection in the UK for 10,000 child refugees in future years.'

The plight of child refugees has recently been highlighted by reports from the Greek island of Lesbos, where the refugee camp of Moria, designed for 2,000 people, is attempting to house 10,000. Children as young has 10 have attempted suicide there. Hundreds of refugee children are sleeping rough on the streets of Paris.