Stand Up to Racism’s solidarity delegation to Calais on Saturday 17 October was a fantastic demonstration of anti-racism and international solidarity, against the backdrop of the racist scaremongering of migrants and refugees by the government and right-wing press.
The delegation was made up of over 50 cars, vans, minibuses and a coach, with a total of 500 people attending from across the UK. Delegates collected over £12,000 for organisations working with refugees in the camp in Calais.
Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn saw off one of the delegations from London and gave his support to the day by saying “refugees must be treated with respect”.
SUTR held a very successful and moving rally where refugees from countries such as Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Eritrea and Turkey shared their experiences. This was followed by a demonstration of up to a thousand refugees marching alongside students, trade unionist, faith groups and local councillors to the ferry terminal to demand refugees be let into the UK. The event passed peacefully before demonstrators returned to join an end rally with a performance from UK reggae star Natty.
Weyman Bennett, Joint Secretary of Stand Up to Racism says; “David Cameron does not speak for us when he calls refugees a swarm or ignores the atrocious conditions people are living in here. We say you are welcome in the UK and we will fight alongside you until that is made a reality.”
