EUROPE-MIGRANTS/VENICE PROTEST Barefoot protest held on Venice red carpet in support of refugees and migrants

Record ID: 140022

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/VENICE PROTEST Barefoot protest held on Venice red carpet in support of refugees and migrants
  • Date: 11th September 2015
  • Summary: DEMONSTRATORS MARCHING
  • Embargoed: 26th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7DEA9V38NLJPSM366QHSX98TF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hundreds of people gathered on the Venice waterfront on Friday (September 11), removed their shoes and marched barefoot in a show of support for the tens of thousands of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe.
    The march was held on the Venice Lido, where the Venice Film Festival is currently underway.
    Setting out on the march across the small island, the demonstrators cut their way through a mesh net, cheering and chanting slogans.
    "This is not a symbolic demonstration, this is not a self-celebratory event, these are not stars who are taking off their shoes, absolutely not. As you can see, behind me there are hundreds of people who are telling Europe that there is a democratic emergency, not just outside Europe but within the borders of Europe, within the civilisation of Europe," said Italian film director Andrea Segre.
    "Europe no longer has any solutions and we are looking for alternative options. You can find all the solutions by walking, and walking together you can find even more," said another demonstrator, Dula Sultanioki.
    Police officers lined up along the street watched as the demonstrators approached the Venice Film Festival venue, many waving their shoes in the air.
    A small group of the barefoot protesters were allowed to walk on the red carpet outside the Venice Film Festival Palace, where they unfurled a banner calling for humanitarian corridors to be put in place for migrants and refugees.
    The march took place as the United Nations called for the swift creation of large-scale reception centres in frontline states such as Hungary and Greece, and one U.N. agency warned that millions more refugees could arrive in Europe if Syria's civil war continues to rage.
    Many of the tens of thousands of refugees now trekking from Greece via the Balkans and Hungary towards western Europe are fleeing the Syrian war in search of sanctuary, above all in more welcoming and generous countries such as Germany and Sweden.
    EU diplomats are set to work through the weekend to try to settle arguments about how to tackle Europe's refugee crisis before a crunch meeting of interior ministers on Monday (September 14).
    If they fail to reach a deal on tackling the crisis, European Council chief Donald Tusk said on Friday he would call an extraordinary summit of EU leaders this month.
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