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Europe Sees Syria

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Europe Sees Syria
Formation2 September 2015
TypeSocial Media
PurposeHelping refugees and tackling European refugee crisis
Founder
Alexis Stearns

Europe Sees Syria is an international activist campaign that began in Glasgow, Scotland after the death of Alan Kurdi whose image made global headlines after he drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, as part of the Syrian refugee crisis. The Europe Sees Syria campaign works to help refugees and tackling European refugee crisis. The campaign was founded as a Facebook page by Alexis Stearns.[1][2][3] Although the activists run a stable social media pages, the overall Europe Sees Syria movement is a decentralised network, and has no formal hierarchy or structure.[citation needed]

Description and events

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Refugee vigil in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

The movement began after the death of Alan Kurdi whose image made global headlines after he drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, as part of the Syrian refugee crisis. Candlelight vigils in Scotland were organized through Facebook by Alexis Stearns to show solidarity for Syrian refugees and the victims of war.[2] Alexis Stearns stated that "as a wealthy country, many of our citizens want to register their disgust at how little our government is doing to tackle a very serious situation. We hope that other towns and cities will now be inspired to launch events so that we can send a message from every corner of the world."[2]

More than 200,000 people have signed a nationwide petition calling on the UK Government to accept more asylum seekers and increase support for refugees.[4] The Catholic Church in Scotland, the Church of Scotland, the Muslim Council of Scotland, and the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities have issued an Interfaith statement on the refugee crisis part of which reads ‘We welcome the UK and Scottish governments’ willingness to offer a safe haven to these desperate people. We urge them to back this with practical action to help as many refugees as possible, and we call on our communities to support this and make them welcome’.[5]

Influence

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St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow hosted "Glasgow Hears Syria", a musical response to the refugee crisis.[2] Funds raised by the event split between Amnesty International and the Migrant Offshore Aid Agency.[2]

List of events

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Date Organiser(s) Location Attendance Description and aftermath
9 September 2015 Maria Escalona Valencia, Spain 1,000 [6]
12 September 2015 Alexis Stearns, Fuad Alakbarov, Marie Clare Lacey, Adam Stearns, Joshua Brown Glasgow, Scotland 10,000 The event took place in Glasgow's George Square.[7] The crowd was addressed by Humza Yousaf, Scotland's Minister for Europe and International Development, who said the picture of Aylan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian refugee whose body was found on a Turkish beach, had “seared into the collective consciousness of the whole world”.[8]
12 September 2015 Amer Scott Masri, Keefe McKie, Stefan and Kirstin Unger, Mike Lavin Edinburgh, Scotland 5,000 The event took place on front of Scottish Parliament.[7] People attending the Edinburgh event then joined a silent walk over the Radical Road along the Crags.[2]
12 September 2015 Mairi Stephen Inverness, Scotland Unknown The event took place at the High Street of the city.[7]
12 September 2015 Helen Malone Aberdeen, Scotland Unknown The event took place in Aberdeen's Union Terrace Gardens.[7][9]
12 September 2015 Mairi McTaggart Dundee, Scotland 60 The event took place at the Campus Green of the Dundee University.[7]
12 September 2015 Savi Maharaj Stirling, Scotland Unknown Scotland's best-selling authors including Val McDermid, Lin Anderson, Alex Gray and Denise Mina were among hundreds who attended a Stirling Sees Syria candle-lit vigil in support of refugees.[10]
12 September 2015 Wendy Sinclair Lerwick, Scotland 70 70 people gathered at Lerwick Market Cross at midday on Saturday for an hour-long candlelight vigil to demonstrate their solidarity with refugees.[2][11]
12 September 2015 Unknown Linlithgow, Scotland Unknown
12 September 2015 Jeni Orjeni, Hayley Keane Huntly, Scotland 16 The event took place at the Huntley town square.
12 September 2015 Unknown Kirkwall, Scotland Unknown
12 September 2015 Fiona Beaton Dunblane, Scotland 20
12 September 2015 Kirsty Gentleman Dunvegan, Scotland 30
12 September 2015 Ros Ereira, Larissa Moran London, England 100,000 The march took at 12pm at Park Lane and moved off at 1pm to Parliament Square.[12] Jeremy Corbyn was one of the speakers at the event.[13]
12 September 2015 Cleo Lines, Emma Ball Canterbury, England 12
12 September 2015 Sarah Nunn Chichester, England Unknown A candlelit vigil held on Chichester Cathedral's Green in support of the refugees.[14][15]
12 September 2015 Unknown Birmingham, England Unknown
12 September 2015 Unknown Truro, England Unknown
12 September 2015 Unknown Brighton, England Unknown MP Caroline Lucas was one of the speakers at the event.
12 September 2015 Laney McLeod Norwich, England Unknown
12 September 2015 Micha Streibelt Berlin, Germany 200 About 200 people joined a rally at Berlin's Potsdamer Platz to welcome refugees.[16]
12 September 2015 Fabien Sammer Frankfurt, Germany Unknown
12 September 2015 Elena Stelmachenko Cologne, Germany 4
12 September 2015 Anni Biersack Munich, Germany Unknown
12 September 2015 Sara and Fabiano Rosata Bologna, Italy Unknown
12 September 2015 Unknown Milan, Italy Unknown
12 September 2015 Unknown Athens, Greece Unknown The vigil took place at Syntagma Square.
12 September 2015 Aisha Kaur Barcelona, Spain 50
12 September 2015 Bel Casson, Creo Kellab Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Unknown The vigil took place in Quadra Alegria Da Zona Sul in Cantagalo.[17]
12 September 2015 Laureano Ledesma Maipú, Argentina 4

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Naysmith, Stephen. "Grassroots campaigns add to pressure on Government over refugee crisis". www.heraldscotland.com. The Herald. Archived from the original on 8 May 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Thousands attend vigils in Scotland for refugees". BBC News. 12 September 2015. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  3. ^ Paterson, Kirstin. "Refugee crisis: Thousands across Europe join Glasgow student's vigil for Syrian refugees". www.thenational.scot. The National (Scotland). Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  4. ^ Loxton, Rachel. "Glasgow pledges solidarity as refugees ask: How many children have to die?". www.eveningtimes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 May 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Refugee Crisis". St John Ogilvie's. www.st-john-ogilvie.org.uk. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Valencia será ciudad refugio". cadenaser.com (in Spanish). 8 September 2015. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d e Piper, Laura. "Thousands of Scots to shine a light on Syria at weekend vigils". glasgow.stv.tv. Scottish Television. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Hundreds gather for Glasgow Sees Syria Event". www.heraldscotland.com. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  9. ^ McKellar, Zoe. "Aberdeen vigil held for refugees". www.thegaudie.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  10. ^ Dingwall, John (12 September 2015). "Top Scots writers show solidarity for Syrian refugees in candlelit vigil". www.dailyrecord.co.uk. Daily Record. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  11. ^ Marter, Hans. "Syria refugees vigil: 'Wir aa wan tribe'". www.shetnews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  12. ^ Nelson, Kate. "London pro-refugee protest: 5 minute guide". www.london24.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Jeremy Corbyn's speech to over 100,000 at the Refugees Welcome Here rally". www.stopwar.org.uk. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Candlelit Vigil for Syrian Refugees". www.chichestercathedral.org.uk. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Chichester to hold candle-lit vigil for Syria's refugees". Chichester Observer. www.chichester.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  16. ^ Strasas, Thorsten. "'Europe sees Syria' rally to welcome refugees in Berlin". www.demotix.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  17. ^ Hearst, Chesney (12 September 2015). "Vigil to be Held in Rio de Janeiro for Syrian Refugees". riotimesonline.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
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