Blocks forming wall become blocks of migrant support in Amnesty demo

Record ID: 896490

  • Title: Blocks forming wall become blocks of migrant support in Amnesty demo
  • Date: 21st June 2017
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JUNE 20, 2017) (REUTERS) DEMONSTRATORS FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZING BLOCKS ON GROUND TO FORM "WALL" DEMONSTRATORS ORGANIZING BLOCKS THAT READ "XENOPHOBIA, DIFFERENCE, HATE, ETC" BLOCKS SPELLING OUT "HATE" AMNESTY DEMONSTRATORS SORTING THROUGH PILE OF BLOCKS DEMONSTRATORS LOOKING AT BLOCKS SPELLING OUT WORD (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL RESEARCHER FOR MEXICO, MADELEINE PENMAN, SAYING: "Trump's wall, although it does not exist at the moment, already exists metaphorically. There are already walls of hatred everywhere and in Mexico there is already a wall on the southern border, a wall of inhumanity, because year after year the Mexican government is returning tens of thousands of people to their possible death in countries like El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala." DEMONSTRATORS WRITING MESSAGES OF SUPPORT TO MIGRANTS ON BLOCKS CLOSE-UP OF MESSAGE BEING WRITTEN BLOCKS READING: "WELCOME TO A RETURN TO HOME. WE UNITE FOR A BETTER COUNTRY" AND "HERE WE DON'T SUFFER DISCRIMINATION. WELCOME" RESIDENTS PLACING BLOCKS WITH MESSAGES ON THE GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICO CITY RESIDENT, FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ, SAYING: "There should be no such rejection of migration. I think we are brothers, borders should not divide humanity. I think they are simply divisions that man established and that should not mean anything more than drawing lines between one country and another." BLOCKS BEING PLACED TO FORM A HOUSE BLOCK WITH MESSAGE: "WE DON'T WANT WALLS. ALL ARE WELCOME. ALL IN MOVEMENT, ALL SAFE." MAN LOOKING AT WALL GENERAL VIEW OF MAN LOOKING AT WALL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICO CITY RESIDENT, GABRIELA RUIZ, SAYING: "I see it as totally absurd. They could at any given time - that money that is being invested for that absurd wall would be better used in medicine, in education, in so many things that are necessary." GENERAL VIEW OF WALL CLOSE UP OF BLOCKS ON WALL GENERAL VIEW OF WALL PEOPLE PUTTING BLOCKS IN WALL TO FORM HOUSE MAN PLACING BLOCK READING: "WELCOME HOME. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. GO FORWARD"
  • Embargoed: 5th July 2017 02:46
  • Keywords: Migrants border wall Donald Trump Amnesty International
  • Location: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
  • City: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016M7Z0IT
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Demonstrators from Amnesty International took a stand on Tuesday (June 20) against the oft-discussed wall that U.S. President Donald Trump has said he hopes to build on the U.S./Mexico border.
    Volunteers marked International Refugee Day by laying a series of plastic blocks on the ground to form a wall that included words such as "hate", "depression", "abuse", "xenophobia" and "indifference" to counter the wall the Trump has said he will build on the border to curb the influx of undocumented migrants to the United States.
    As the wall took shape, Amnesty demonstrators invited passers-by to remove the already laid down blocks, write a message of peace on them and place them in the form of a migrant shelter.
    Residents enthusiastically joined the demo with words of support for migrants.
    The blocks will be later sent to different migrant shelters throughout southern Mexico to give encouragement to migrants heading north.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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