- Title: Candlelight vigil for Chinese victims found dead in truck
- Date: 24th October 2019
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) PEOPLE GATHERED OUTSIDE UK HOME OFFICE HOLDING CANDLELIGHT VIGIL FOR CHINESE VICTIMS WHO WERE FOUND DEAD IN A TRUCK NEAR LONDON CANDLE BURNING PEOPLE HOLDING CANDLES WOMAN'S EYES WITH REFLECTION OF CANDLELIGHT PLACARD READING (English): "MIGRANTS & REFUGEES WELCOME HERE" WOMAN HOLDING CANDLES (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOINT-NATIONAL CONVENER FOR CAMPAIGN GROUP STAND UP TO RACISM, WEYMAN BENNETT, SAYING: "We're horrified at the deaths of 39 people in the back of lorries. We're also horrified that thousands of people drowned in the Mediterranean Sea or die in the deserts outside in the Sahara, or die at the walls at the gates of trying to get into America. We believe that humanity has been lost and we have to speak up for these people. One of my teachers was a holocaust survivor who happened to survive the Second World War because he was given asylum and refuge. And he always imparted to us why we have to remember our humanity. And I think that's at the heart of what's going on. I think we have to speak out and say we don't want people to die in backs of vans, drowned. We have to have some humanity." (SOUNDBITE) (English) TEACHER AND ACTIVIST AND DUAL UK AND GERMAN CITIZEN, ULRIKE SCHMIDT, SAYING: "We are all the same people. The history of humanity is a history of migration and these people who are dying, they are not the other, to be blocked out of our daily lives. They are people like you and me. And it is just the pure chance of birth and place and time that gives us a pretty comfortable life. It's not something that we can take for granted. So, I really think it's very, very important that we build this solidarity, that we stand up for universal human rights and for everybody, for refugees and that we continue to campaign for a more humane society." PEOPLE GATHERED OUTSIDE HOME OFFICE HOLDING CANDLES AND PLACARDS SIGN READING (English): "HOME OFFICE" WOMAN HOLDING SIGN READING (English): "SAFE PASSAGE NOW" VARIOUS OF CANDLES ON PAVEMENT
- Embargoed: 7th November 2019 19:46
- Keywords: human trafficking vigil for Chinese victims people smuggling Essex lorry Thames Britain bodies found in truck vigil
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2GKITJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Campaigners held a candlelight vigil outside the British Home Office on Thursday (October 24) to commemorate 39 Chinese victims who were found dead in a truck near London.
Paramedics and police found the bodies of 31 men and eight women on Wednesday (October 23) in a truck container on an industrial estate at Grays, about 20 miles (32 km) east of the capital city.
Police were given permission by magistrates to detain the 25-year-old driver for an additional 24 hours on Thursday.
For years, illegal immigrants have attempted to reach Britain stowed away in trucks, often from the European mainland. In the biggest tragedy, 58 Chinese were found dead in a tomato truck in 2000 at the port of Dover.
(Production: Ben Makori, Iona Serrapica, Louisa Naks) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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