[…] Migrants to Europe as well as
European citizens who support their right to freedom of movement are making an
epic march across Europe to protest the continent's immigration policy –
heightening solidarity at a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric dominates the
campaigns of many parties seeking votes in this week’s European Parliamentary
elections.
“With this March, we want to do something concrete to inspire people,” says Assem, an asylum seeker in Berlin who is a member of a logistics team planning the march. “This is our way of informing people what is really going on – the repression we face as refugees in Europe.”
“With this March, we want to do something concrete to inspire people,” says Assem, an asylum seeker in Berlin who is a member of a logistics team planning the march. “This is our way of informing people what is really going on – the repression we face as refugees in Europe.”
Hundreds of protestors marked the first milestone of the journey on Sunday by crossing the Europa Bridge that connects the German city of Kehl with the French city of Strasbourg.
For many, the short walk above the Rhine – punctuated by a few moments of silence, as empty pairs of shoes were tied to the bridge’s railings to commemorate thousands of migrants who have lost their lives at sea attempting to reach Europe – marked an act of civil disobedience.
