Some 5,000 activists in Berlin rallied in front of Reichstag and dug at least one hundred graves to express their solidarity with asylum seekers, who have died trying to reach Europe after fleeing war and persecution in their home countries.
‘Refugees are welcome here’: Thousands march in Berlin to support migrants, Greece
The rally was organized by the Center for Political Beauty; a group, which says it wants to “re-transform Europe into a continent of immigration.” The organization used the controversial slogan: "The Dead Are Coming,” while they have also made art works to spread their message.
Thousands in front of the German Bundestag dig symbolic graves to bring the migrant crisis home to EU policy makers pic.twitter.com/ESBtft8Q9V
— Belal Awad|بلال عواد (@Baloo1987) June 21, 2015
The protest, which took place a day after UN World Refugee Day, gathered at least 5,000 people, according to police estimates. An officer told AFP that a "small number" of people were arrested for minor offences.
READ MORE: ‘Worst crisis since WWII’: Amnesty lashes out at world leaders over 50mn refugees
Some scuffles with police protesters now sitting in front of riot police on German Parliament lawn
A photo posted by Lizzie Phelan (@lizzie_phelan) on Jun 21, 2015 at 7:57am PDT
The activists, many of them dressed in black, carried improvised coffins, which apparently symbolize the caskets of asylum seekers who have died while trying to make their way to Europe.
“Everyone can see that we are peaceful and that we want to change something - to stop the dying [of migrants] in the Mediterranean Sea,” one of protestors told Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.
#dietotenkommenpic.twitter.com/8jxWT1ebxh
— DtotheH (@KarloH1) June 21, 2015
5.500 Entschlossene heben gerade spontan Gräber vor dem Bundestag aus. Die Toten kommen!Posted by Zentrum für Politische Schönheit on dimanche 21 juin 2015
They also managed to dig about a hundred small ‘graves’ with wooden crosses inscribed with messages such as, "Borders Kill," “Stop Deportations,” "Fortresses Fall" and the “EU kills.”
READ MORE: ‘They are good guys’: Italian politician loses her job for sheltering African migrants
#dietotenkommenpic.twitter.com/ephyDQH0Wu
— Stefan Wehrmeyer (@stefanwehrmeyer) June 21, 2015
“They [the German authorities] must understand that the people dying in the Mediterranean Sea are just a part of our lives,” one of the demonstrators told RT.
Ruptly producer Belal Awad was pepper sprayed by police officers during the rally, RT’s video agency said on Twitter.
Ruptly journalist pepper-sprayed covering migrant justice protest http://t.co/IYyCPPm2FO#WorldRefugeeDaypic.twitter.com/q5b1oFe3HQ
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) June 21, 2015
“I just popped my pepper spray cherry, I guess I was in their way,” Awad wrote on Facebook after the attack.
The European Union is struggling with the growing problems of migrants who are coming from war-stricken counties. The European Commission (EC) is planning to resettle about 40,000 people, which includes 24,000 from Italy and 16,000 from Greece in 23 EU member states over the next two years.
Ein von Gräbern übersäter Platz, unmittelbar vor dem Reichstag, ist schon ein starkes Bild. #dietotenkommenpic.twitter.com/BFOpt34ssV
— oleschri (@oleschri) June 21, 2015
Earlier in June, Amnesty International said that governments around the world had effectively let thousands of people, who are fleeing wars in Africa and the Middle East, die by failing to provide them with basic human protection.
Gräberfeld auf der Recihstagswiese. #dietotenkommenpic.twitter.com/BZRNH7gDaw
— nïkö (@ichier) June 21, 2015
#DieTotenKommen successful solidarity rally in Berlin, acc to organizers more than 100 graves dug today #neverforgetpic.twitter.com/YyPHqYN04i
— denise reese (@denice_ruptly) June 21, 2015
The total number of forcibly displaced people around the globe is now thought to be above 50 million.
March in Berlin for the #dietotenkommen. Against EU absence from the tragedies that affect the #Mediterranean daily. pic.twitter.com/w8e47liuWU
— Ludo Orlando (@LudoOrlando) June 21, 2015
The human rights group called on the whole of Europe to share the burden of dealing with the refugee crisis, saying that Brussels has “pushed them back into the sea rather than resettle them.”
„Ich müsste hier mal durch.“- „Warum bekommt jeder so nen Scheiß-Presseausweis?“ Danke @polizeiberlin#dietotenkommenpic.twitter.com/Hp8aTibwmL
— Jule Löffler (@laloeffelstiel) June 21, 2015
#dietotenkommen#demdeutschenvolke - Sturm auf die Festung pic.twitter.com/i5420KmHPQ
— Max Manus (@maxmanus1944) June 21, 2015
@politicalbeauty#dietotenkommenpic.twitter.com/JDsw42a5YK
— Anna Niedhart (@megaartbaby) June 21, 2015
I was moved. What happend today speaks for itself. Thank you so much for this. #dietotenkommen@politicalbeautypic.twitter.com/pXA6hs95bJ
— Waagnat (@HouseOfRoughArt) June 21, 2015
Impressive civic action in front of German parliament to remind of dead refugees on EU's borders: pic.twitter.com/3ceLCNASow#dietotenkommen
— Ralf Bendrath (@bendrath) June 21, 2015
Gedenken in #kreuzberg#berlin#dietotenkommenpic.twitter.com/cT962eqaZr
— Yvonne Röttgers (@undpsyche) June 21, 2015
#dietotenkommen Marsch der #Entschlossenenpic.twitter.com/ZtV94oNGT9
— wo ist die Mauer (@BerlinerKritik) June 21, 2015