14 June Amnesty International Vigil calling for a Safe Route for refugees at the Greek Embassy London! 

14 June Amnesty International Vigil calling for a Safe Route for refugees at the Greek Embassy London! 

Amnesty called a vigil to mark the tragic sinking of the Adriana boat which sank close to the Greek island Pylos.  750 plus refugees were aboard the boat tragically only 104 were rescued and a further 82 bodies were found.  Many children and women were amongst those who died.  This is due to the fact that mothers hold onto their children as the boat sank meaning it was a lot harder for them to save themselves.

The Federation attended the vigil alongside activists from The International Iranian Organisation, Stand up Against Racism, the Jewish Socialist group and other refugee rights groups. 

Ulrike Schmidt Amnesty European coordinator spoke at the vigil she informed us that Amnesty had organised similar vigils across Europe including, Athens Greece, Turkey, Denmark, France.

Dashty Jamal from International Federation of Iraqi Refugees spoke about the recent history of Iraq and the Middle East that led to refugees fleeing from war and insecurity. Which had been caused by the intervention of America and Western countries. Now those same countries do not take responsibility for the problems they have caused, closing the borders forcing people to take terribly unsafe routes across the sea.The attendees chanted the following slogans

• Say it loud say it clear refugees are welcome here

• Refugee rights are human rights

• Safe and Legal routes for people seeking asylum