Activists Cover London Square With Life Jackets to Commemorate Drowned Refugees

Activists laid 2,500 life jackets at the Parliament Square in London to draw the world community’s attention to the problem of illegal and uncontrolled migration that led to death of thousands of people trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.

LONDON (Sputnik) – The life jackets worn by migrants and refugees, who crossed the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the Greek island of Chios, were laid around the statue of Winston Churchill by the charity International Rescue Committee to coincide with the UN Global Migration Summit in New York, The Scotsman newspaper reported.

Many of the jackets were reportedly made by people smugglers from non-buoyant materials.

On Saturday, UK citizens took to the streets of London to demonstrate their support for refugees ahead of the UN summit.

The European Union is currently struggling with a massive influx of migrants as hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa and heading for Europe in hopes of a better life there.