A ‘tasteless stunt’ in support of migrants
IN the shadow of Big Ben and yards from Churchill’s statue, it is usually reserved for memorials to Britain’s war dead.
But yesterday a refugee charity was accused of mounting a tasteless stunt after 2,500 lifejackets were laid in Parliament Square.
Despite a strict three-hour limit on protests at the site, London Mayor Sadiq Khan gave it special permission to stage the protest – attended by actress Juliet Stevenson – for an entire day.
The lifejackets, all of which had been worn by those crossing from Turkey to the Greek island of Chios, were placed by the International Rescue Commission.
Tory MP Charlie Elphicke said: ‘This protest is inappropriate and in poor taste. The square is a place for remembering British soldiers who died in battle – such as the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme which took place earlier this summer.’
Campaigners laid out the ‘graveyard of lifejackets’ on Sunday night to represent the thousands who have died in the Mediterranean in recent weeks. They were cleared away yesterday. The demo was held to coincide with the UN Migration Summit in New York.
Sanj Srikanthan, the IRC’s director of policy and practice, denied claims the charity was politicising a humanitarian issue. ‘Nothing we are doing is misrepresenting any facts,’ he said. ‘It’s happening. We are not talking about migrants, we are talking about refugees.’
An average of 20 migrants a day die trying to cross the Mediterranean.