Solidarity With Refugees: Tens of thousands turn up for support march in London

Tens of thousands of people have poured onto London’s streets, taking part in a rally to support those striving to get to the UK amidst an unprecedented refugee crisis. Newly elected Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn has joined the demonstrators.

Nearly 89,500 people confirmed they would attend the demonstration in support of the asylum seekers by registering at the Solidarity with Refugees group on Facebook. The event was called on the eve of a meeting of EU interior ministers scheduled for Monday, September 14, to discuss the European response to the refugee crisis.

The meeting will be attended by UK Home Secretary Theresa May, for whom the Solidarity with Refugees group had a message: “It is vital that she takes with her the conviction that the British people that she represents are open to helping refugees,” Solidarity with Refugees group writes.

Europe “can’t continue to allow thousands to die trying to reach the EU and their legal right to claim asylum,” the group added.

Thousands now marching through Hyde park after resounding Corbyn victory and holding refugees welcome banners pic.twitter.com/ayKfgowioj

— Laura Burdon-Manley (@Laura_BM1) September 12, 2015

The rally began as scheduled, at noon as people convened at Park Lane and then marched to Downing Street, with speeches in Parliament Square.

Thousands of activists, as seen on a live feed, have taken to the streets of London demanding the UK government to provide greater support to the refugees, particularly those currently residing in camps across Europe.

Europe is facing a wave of forced migration unprecedented since WWII. Thousands of unprocessed and unregistered asylum seekers are now arriving to the EU from countries of the Middle East and Africa, devastated by conflicts, to a great extent instigated by US foreign policies.

Ros Ereira, the initiator of the pro-refugee march, says the rally is her first of any kind, yet the march in support of refugees has found massive support not only from the population, with 20 activist groups and solidarity organizations, such as Amnesty International and Stop the War Coalition, joining in.

The Solidarity with Refugees group wants to persuade Prime Minister David Cameron to accept to the UK more than the 20,000 refugees he pledged to let into the country this week.

Masses streaming in to speakers corner. Jeremy Corbyn should be addressing the crowd in around an hours time pic.twitter.com/QFuNiMrorS

— Laura Burdon-Manley (@Laura_BM1) September 12, 2015

The first thing the new leader of the UK Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, did after winning the election with a landslide 59.5 percent of the vote in the first round, was joining the rally in support of refugees.

Standing in Parliament Square among thousands of cheering demonstrators, Corbyn appealed to the government to "open your hearts and open your minds and open your attitude towards supporting people who are desperate, who need somewhere safe to live, want to contribute to our society, and are human beings just like all of us.”

“Together in peace, together in justice, together in humanity, that surely must be our way forward,” Corbyn concluded on an emotional note, ITV reported.

Labour’s new leader was expected to address the London rally together with Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats and representatives of such groups as the Refugee Council, Amnesty International and the Stop the War Coalition, of which Corbyn is a co-founder.