UN-REFUGEES/GERMANY Several thousand supporters of refugees mark World Refugee Day in Berlin

Record ID: 151843

  • Title: UN-REFUGEES/GERMANY Several thousand supporters of refugees mark World Refugee Day in Berlin
  • Date: 20th June 2015
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JUNE 20, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FIRST ROW OF MARCH WITH BANNER READING (German) "REMAKE.EUROPE. - DEMOCRATIC, IN SOLIDARITY, BORDERLESS" DEMONSTRATORS PLACARD READING (German) 'RESISTANCE INSTEAD OF COMPETITION' AND 'ANTIFA INSTEAD OF DEPORTATION' MORE DEMONSTRATORS FEET OF DEMONSTRATORS (SOUNDBITE) (German) DEMONSTRATOR MARIANNE VOELSKE SAYING: "I thi
  • Embargoed: 5th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6QO6B32L4O7LP0MWW0ONMC6GZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Several thousand supporters of refugees and self-proclaimed 'refugee activists' marked World Refugee Day on Saturday (June 20) with a demonstration in Berlin entitled "Change Europe" (Europa anders machen).
    The demonstration which also was in support of Greece, was organised by the 'Alliance East-West' - a loose alliance of left-thinking people. Under the slogan 'Remake.Europe. - democratic, borderless, in solidarity' people gathered in the streets around the centre of Berlin to express their dismay with the current policy of Europe, be it in regards to refugees or the crisis in Greece. The demonstration ended with a concert at the Brandenburg Gate.
    One demonstrator said that Europe must disengage "from the aggressive policy of the West". "Because I think that is a problem that brings refugees in large numbers to us," said Marianne Voelske. And another demonstrators, Rosalotte Wellendorf, added: "It is not a solution just to seal yourself off. And send them all back and ignore. Because they contributed to the fact that they had to flee in the first place. And that is very much ignored by policy-makers."
    The theme for this year's World Refugee Day was "standing together" and that seemed to many demonstrators more that appropriate in light of the mass casualties of refugees in the Mediterranean Sea and the severe austerity measures in the European South.
    World-wide, an estimated 5.5 million people were forcibly uprooted during the first six months of last year, 1.4 million of them fleeing abroad, according to the UNHCR.
    Syrians have overtaken Afghans as the largest refugee population aside from Palestinians, fleeing to more than 100 countries to escape war in their homeland, the United Nations said earlier this year.
    Afghan refugees, the biggest group for three decades, have fallen to second place, with 2.6 million hosted by Pakistan and Iran at mid-year, it said. Somalis ranked as the third largest refugee group at 1.1 million.
    The Middle East and North Africa has become the main region of origin of refugees, overtaking the Asia and Pacific region that held the top spot for more than a decade.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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