September 12 became an important day of demonstrations in solidarity with the refugees coming to Europe to escape war-torn countries, such as Syria, or ravaged by hunger and misery. Tens of thousands of people took part in rallies in London, Copenhagen, Vienna, Budapest and many Spanish cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Malaga.
In Denmark, more than 30,000 people took to the streets to express their desire to help people arriving in the country. In Vienna the number of participants was about 5,000. In London more than 10,000 gathered at Parliament Square to demand that their government receives a greater number of refugees. In Budapest, hundreds of people gathered at the central station of the city.
In the Spanish state the two most expressive activities took place in Madrid and Barcelona which were attended by 7,000 and 1,000 respectively. Corriente Roja (CR, Red Current) helped to convene and participated in the demonstrations in Madrid, Barcelona and Seville.
Solidarity demonstrations also occurred in the United States and Canada. In Brazil and other Latin American countries there are also confirmed demonstrations for the coming days.
The protests come at a time when the EU is experiencing a crisis with the entry of refugees. The meeting of ministers to “find a solution” failed, as expected, once the EU response is only increasing repression and to receive a small fraction of the asylum seekers.
Hungary has started today to implement new punitive measures for people entering the country “without authorization”. Other countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Germany imposed restrictions on their borders.
Faced with the hypocrisy of the EU and governments, let’s organize solidarity.
