Brighton beach body bags highlight EU migrant deaths

Activists have lined up two hundred black body bags on Brighton beach in order to highlight Britain’s “shameful” response to the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.

Local Amnesty International members along with volunteers zipped themselves into some of the body bags alongside a banner displaying the hashtag #DontLetThemDrown.

A campaigner then laid a wreath in the middle of the mass of bodies that were lined up in rows in front of the East Sussex resort's Big Wheel close to the pier.

Campaigners said they hope the protest will raise awareness of the plight of thousands of migrants losing their lives while trying to reach Europe for a better life.

“Our big push is to try and get Cameron to reinstate the search and rescue operations,” Amnesty spokesperson, Harriet Garland, told British daily, the Independent.

The stunt was staged ahead of a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday over the crisis. European leaders have been under mounting pressure to agree a plan to stop migrant deaths especially after an estimated 800 people from Africa and the Middle East died off the Libyan coast over the weekend.

It was a “wake up call for Europe,” Garland continued.

Amnesty’s UK director, Kate Allen, said: “Until now, the British government’s response has been shameful but finally foreign ministers seem to be waking up to the need to act. EU governments must now urgently turn their rhetoric into action to stop more people drowning on their way to Europe.”

Italian-led mission, the Mare Nostrum search and rescue program, ended last year after EU members stopped funding it. It was then replaced by the smaller Triton operation.

Amnesty International Secretariat in London, Elisa De Pieri, told Press TV’s UK desk in a phone interview that the charity group is “calling on European governments to put together a humanitarian operation deploying many more ships and aircraft along the main migration routes that these people are taking”.

"We are talking about increasing pledges for resettlement and humanitarian visa which have been appallingly few in the last couple of years from the European Union. In addition, the European Union should stop implementing measures that make it difficult for people in search of safety and protection to approach land borders and stop policies such as push backs that have channeled people towards the sea routes as they see that as the only way left available for them."

Over the last year 3,279 migrants died attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees those who died came from a wide range of countries including Syria, Somalia, Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Ethiopia.

Analysts predict that as many as 30,000 migrants, including 2,500 children, could die attempting to cross the seas to Europe in the coming year unless the crisis is tackled.

On Thursday, British Prime Minister, David Cameron will attend a key summit in Brussels to discuss a 10-point plan drawn up as a response to the growing problem.

Proposals include strengthening the Triton patrolling service and seeking a military mandate to seize and destroy people-smugglers’ boats.

HH/PHX

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