A protester holds on to the railings outside the Houses of Parliament during a demonstration to express solidarity with migrants and to demand the government welcome refugees into Britain, in London, September 12, 2015 (Photo: Reuters)
In the wake of the refugee crisis with thousands fleeing to Europe, British cultural figures signed a statement directed to their government, demanding more action to help refugees.
The statement was led and organised by Indian-British sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor, director Joe Wright, musician Anoushka Shankar, publisher Jamie Byng and artist Adam Broomberg.
It has garnered the support of over 100 leading cultural figures including Keira Knighltey, Jude Law, Jamie Oliver, Colin Firth, Sir Michael Caine and Benedict Cumberbatch, who also headed a fundraising campaign for refugees with Save The Children organisation.
British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged on Monday to take in up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years.
Published in an advert in the Guardian, the statement calls for the UK to take in more refugees, seeing this number to be inadequate and well below the numbers other countries are taking in, describing the British government’s reaction as “too little, too late.”
In the statement they “urge the UK government to wake up to the urgency of the current crisis and work with its European counterparts to offer immediate humanitarian help and agree long-term solutions to refugee resettlement.”
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