EUROPE-MIGRANTS/BRITAIN RALLY START Thousands rally at London's Hyde Park in support of migrants

Record ID: 139945

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/BRITAIN RALLY START Thousands rally at London's Hyde Park in support of migrants
  • Date: 12th September 2015
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 12, 2015) (REUTERS) DEMONSTRATORS GATHERING FOR THE MARCH PROTESTERS BEGIN WALKING TOWARDS MARCH PLACARD READING (English): "REFUGEES WELCOME" (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMONSTRATOR, MICHAELA O'DRISCOLL, SAYING: "Governments need to work collaboratively around the world. Why doesn't Australia take people too? And stop, kind of, having borders and (indistinct). What's going on in Hungary is shocking, we really have to turn it around, it's people." DEMONSTRATORS WITH FLAGS GATHER AND CHEER PLACARD READING (English): "REFUGEES WELCOME HERE" DEMONSTRATORS GATHERING WITH FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMONSTRATOR, WAI LEE, SAYING: "I know that we are doing a lot towards the aid for them camps there, but we should be, (indistinct). I mean if you look at what Germany are doing, it's also a matter of public mood as well, I mean you see the platforms of people accepting refugees in Germany, telling people they are safe and you really want to be able to feel proud of your country like that." PLACARD READING (English): "SWAP CAMERON FOR 1,000,000 REFUGEES"
  • Embargoed: 27th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA31F1ZAL8B258WEW4IY07D3NGD
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Thousands of people were expected to march through central London on Saturday (September 12), demonstrating in support of refugees travelling to European Union countries in search of safety.
    The march will start from Hyde Park and continue to Parliament Square via Downing Street. The newly elected leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, was expected to attend.
    A photograph of the dead body of toddler, Aylan Kurdi, in the surf off a popular Turkish holiday resort, prompted sympathy and outrage at the perceived inaction of developed nations in helping thousands of refugees using dangerous sea-routes to reach Europe, many of whom have fled Syria's four-year civil war.
    "Governments need to work collaboratively around the world. Why doesn't Australia take people too? And stop, kind of, having borders, " said one marcher, Michaela O'Driscoll.
    "What's going on in Hungary is shocking, we really have to turn it around, it's people," she added.
    British Prime Minister David Cameron last week pledged to increase the number of refugees Britain would take in to 20,000 over five years. Critics say that amount is shameful compared to other EU nations such as Germany and Sweden.
    "I know that we are doing a lot towards the aid for them camps there, but we should be, (indistinct), I mean if you look at what Germany are doing, it's also a matter of public mood as well, I mean you see the platforms of people accepting refugees in Germany, telling people they are safe and you really want to be able to feel proud of your country like that," said another protester, Wai Lee.
    Britain has so far taken in only 216 Syrian refugees under a U.N.-backed relocation scheme. About 5,000 other Syrians who have made their own way to Britain have been granted asylum.
    However, a survey published last Monday (September 7) showed that most Britons did not want greater numbers of refugees from war-torn countries such as Syria and Libya.
    Only 40 percent of people polled by ComRes for the BBC said Britain should let in more refugees than it does currently, compared with 57 percent who want the same number or fewer.
    Nearly two-thirds of Britons said the image of the drowned toddler should not influence migration policy, and made it harder to take a rational approach.
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