Amnesty supporters are to emerge from body bags on Brighton seafront this morning to highlight the growing migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.
The human rights pressure group is publishing a new report at midday today ahead of an emergency meeting of EU leaders tomorrow.
And to publicise the report, it is placing 200 body bags on the beach in rows in front of the Brighton Wheel.
They have been laid out alongside a banner displaying the hashtag #DontLetThemDrown and a giant life ring.
A wreath of funeral flowers will be placed among the body bags.
On Thursday, David Cameron will attend an emergency summit of EU leaders in Brussels to discuss a response to the crisis.
This meeting comes after the EU foreign and home affairs ministers announced a ten-point plan on Monday, including a commitment for an expanded search-and-rescue operation.
Amnesty UK Director Kate Allen, said: “Until now, the UK Government’s response has been shameful but finally they have been woken up to the need to act. EU governments must now urgently turn their rhetoric into action to stop more people drowning on their way to Europe.”
Should be on Hasting or Dover beach..
There is much more to this story. People were in the body bags, and it was very affecting, and effective, way of showing what these drownings mean.
Thousands of lost hopes. And all this is owing to European governments’ refusal to accept migrants, who resort to desperate means. A brilliant piece in today’s New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/opinion/migrants-face-the-mediterranean-europes-deadly-moat.html?smid=tw-share
Later on, when some volunteers had to leave, I offered to be in a bag. (And heard that news people had come from afar for this.) The thoughts in one’s head were far from usual relaxing beach.