#RefugeesWelcome: Protest outside Tory Party Conference
Tuesday 6 October
Assemble : 5.30pm Mount St, Manchester M2 5NS
Tell Home Secretary Theresa May : Refugees Welcome Here!
Followed by:
Rally – Refugees are welcome here
7pm Dancehouse Theatre, Oxford rd, Manchester, M1 5QA
(full details below)
Stand up to racism which organised the 100,000 strong ‘Refugees Welcome’ Demonstration on 12 September has organised a protest outside Conservative Party Conference responding to Theresa May’s speech today and to highlight the abdication of responsibility by the Conservative government regarding refugees.
This Sunday’s massive no to austerity demonstration included widespread support for refugees, with banners, placards chants and speeches calling for a humane response to this global crisis.
Visit @antiracismday for pictures of Charlotte Church, Julie Hesmondhalgh (Coronation Street Actor) Sam Duckworth (Musician) Paul Nowak (TUC Assistant General Secretary) Dave Prentis (UNISON General Secretary ) Mark Serwotka (PCS General Secretary) Christine Blower (NUT General Secretary) and others holding up our ‘Refugee Lives Matter’ placard.
Sabby Dhalu, Stand up to racism organiser said :
“The Govenment’s response to the global refugee crisis has been inhumane and inadequate. There has been a public outcry about the drowning of refugees which needs an effective response. Their proposal to take in 20,000 refugees over four years pales into insignificance given Austria took that amount in one day. The government’s abdication of responsibility, in the face of the biggest refugee crisis since World War Two, is unnaceptable. Theresa May’s speech today risks increasing hostility on this issue.”
Weyman Bennett Stand up to racism said:
“The government needs to respond to this crisis as the public have; homes have been offered, local councils have responded, donations made and we have organised numerous delegations to Calais to offer support and solidarity. However, as I have witnessed for myself in Calais, the onset of winter will bring increasingly horrific conditions. It is straightforward that Britain, one of the richest coutries in the world, should accept its fair proportion of refugees and should immediately accept the refugees in Calais. Since the pictures of Aylan Kurdi shocked the world, more refugees, including children have drowned. We will be protesting against the inhumanity of a government that refuses to welcome refugees.”
For press interviews and more information contact info@standuptoracism.org.uk follow @antiracismday
Notes to Editors:
1. Stand up to racism is a broad coalition of Parliamentarians, community groups, trade unionists, faith groups, anti-racist and anti-fascist campaigners, student activists and others which has called some of the biggest anti-racist demonstrations in Britain in the last decade including the annual march on UN Anti Racism Day.
2. Details of the Refugees Welcome Protest and Rally:
Tuesday 6 October
Tell Home Secretary Theresa May : Refugees Welcome Here!
Assemble : 5.30pm Mount St, Manchester M2 5NS
Followed by:
Rally – Refugees are welcome here
7pm Dancehouse Theatre, Oxford rd, Manchester, M1 5QA
Speakers: Ahmad Al Mansour (Syrian refugee speaker), Farid Vahidi (RAPAR), Dave Toomer (NUJ Manchester and Salford), Janet Alder (Justice for Christopher Alder), Lee Jasper (BARAC), Shelly Asquith (NUS Vice President), Maz Saleem (Stand Up To Racism Calais Solidarity Delegation), Weyman Bennett (Stand Up to Racism). Chair: Zahra Alijah (Chair of Hideaway Youth Project, Moss Side).
Mic Bytes – poetry and song performance hosted by Chris Jam.
3. Stand up to racism is organising a further solidarity delegation to Calais on 17th Sept for more information please see www.standuptoracism.org.uk