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London: Tens of thousands march for refugees


Before the march - JRS group with Sarah Teather (2nd rt) on steps of St James

Before the march - JRS group with Sarah Teather (2nd rt) on steps of St James

Tens of thousands joined a march on Saturday calling on government to do more to aid refugees ahead of a UN Summit on Refugees and Migrants in New York on Monday which will be followed by a separate summit on the issue hosted by Barack Obama the following day.

A packed ecumenical service of prayer for refugees was held at St James, Spanish Place before the march, organised by CAFOD, Christian Aid and Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS). The Anglican Bishop of Croydon, Rt Rev Jonathan Clark and Fr Michael Smith SJ led the prayers. There was reflection on the Lampedusa Cross. Sarah Teather, director of JRS, introduced Victoire Lally a refugee from war-torn Togo gave a harrowing description of her three years in a detention centre. She received an ovation as thanked all the Catholic organisations who have helped her.

After the service, campaigners filed out with their banners to join the march down Park Lane towards Parliament Square, organised by Solidarity with Refugees with groups such as Amnesty International, Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières, the Refugee Council and Stop the War Coalition. Among the Catholic banners were: the Columban Missionaries, The Association of the Holy Family of Bordeaux, Franciscans, Dominicans, JRS, CSAN, CAFOD parish groups, Westminster Justice and Peace Medical Mission Sisters, and Medical Missionaries of Mary. and many more. Slogans included: 'End the Drowning', ' Reunite Families', 'No-one is illegal', Choose love', 'Be human', 'Suffer the Children' and '‪#refugeeswelcome‬'

Representing the Columban Missionaries, Fr Aodh O'Halpin and Ellen Teague said the Columbans "accompany and defend the rights of refugees and were happy to show solidarity with them in the streets of Central London". They were delighted "to see tens of thousands of people walking alongside us.

At the rally in Parliament Square there were speeches from artists, actors, musicians and politicians. Juliet Stevenson expressed concern for the children trapped at the Jungle in Calais, calling on world leaders to share responsibility, adding: "I hope Theresa May is listening."

Vanessa Redgrave said: "Citizens in this country, of whatever background, all want to obey the law. There are human rights laws. The present government and previous governments, both Labour, coalition and Conservative, have been breaking international human rights law. We must hold them to account."

Lord Dubs, who arrived in the UK under the Kindertransport programme for Jewish children as a six-year-old fleeing Nazi persecution, said in his speech that the government has been "pretty hopeless" at dealing with the issue. He told the crowd as he pointed towards parliament: "I tell you, speaking here is a million times better than speaking in there. There is only one thing that is shifting this government and that is the force of public opinion and that means you."

Solidarity with Refugees director Ros Ereira said: "This week is going to be Theresa May's first opportunity as our prime minister to represent us at a global summit... I really hope she is going to set the tone for what kind of a country we can be post-Brexit and with her new leadership. Hopefully she will want to portray us as an open, tolerant, welcoming society that wants to play an important role on the global stage and lead an appropriate global humanitarian response." She said: 'It's not just humanitarian, it is political will.. It is not a crisis of the numbers of people coming, it is a crisis about the way the government is managing it."

More than 3,200 refugees and asylum seekers have drowned attempting to reach Europe so far this year. Around 300,000 who survived the journey are now stranded in Greece and Italy in desperately poor living conditions. Around 10,000 are living in squalid conditions at the 'Jungle' in Calais.

Many of the refugees are unaccompanied children, some as young as six. There was a minute's silence for a 14 year old refugee boy from Calais who died a few days ago trying to reach UK

refugees were also remembered on Saturday at the National Justice and Peace Network of England and Wales.

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