Thousands protest UK government's refugee policy
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of London to demand that the British government take in more refugees.
MPs, actors and others marched on Downing Street on Sunday, calling for more action on the refugee crisis, as thousands of men, women and children continue to drown in desperate attempts to reach Europe.
They began in Park Lane at 12.30 p.m. and marched toward Parliament Square while holding a "Refugees Welcome" banner.
Marchers chanted “Refugees are welcome here” and waved banners reading “No-one is illegal", “Let’s help people” and "Stop the drowning."
Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas MP, Labour's Lord Alf Dubs and Liberal Democrat campaigner Baroness Sheehan delivered lectures on the crisis.
Also, actors Juliet Stevenson, Vanessa Redgrave and Dame Harriet Walter spoke to protesters in Parliament Square and raised concerns about unaccompanied children, who are living in refugee camps in Calais, France.
"This seems to be the biggest issue of our time," said demonstrator Maria Spirova, who came to the UK from Bulgaria in 2011. "Not being involved means not living on this planet."
"It seems there are unrelenting numbers of people for which life means ending up living without prospects in a tent somewhere. Huge swathes of humanity are being denied a life."
According to organizers Solidarity with Refugees, at least 50 organizations and 200 religious leaders participated in the rally and together asked the UK, in a letter, to take a "fair and proportionate" share of international refugees.
The protest came 2 days before UK Prime Minister Theresa May attends a summit on refugees and migration at the United Nations headquarters where US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will also appear.
May has been criticized by more than 200 religious leaders as her government has recently announced that it would tighten anti-refugee measures in Calais.
Earlier this month, UK Immigration Minister Robert Goodwill confirmed plans to build a 13 feet (3.9 meters) wall to prevent refugees getting aboard trucks to go to England.
May was infamous for her anti-refugee policies as home secretary. Under her predecessor, David Cameron, May tried “to create a hostile environment” for illegal migrants.
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