Ukraine War Gives London Chance to Become ‘Even More Multicultural’
Politicians, activists, and celebrities took to Central London on Saturday to protest against the war in Ukraine and celebrate refugees, diversity, and multiculturalism.
The demonstration, which was attended by thousands of people, was organized by the leftist Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, began in Hyde Park and descended on Trafalgar Square, where a stage and massive screen played out messages from Ukrainians, including — albeit with major technical difficulties, the Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko.
Taking to the stage, Mayor Khan hailed the predominantly white, blue and yellow draped crowd as “a sea of humanity, a sea of all ages, of all backgrounds, all ethnicities, all nationalities coming together to send a powerful message: We stand with the people of Ukraine, we condemn Putin’s barbaric aggression, we will stay with you in your struggle for freedom, democracy, and your safe country.”
“Let me send a message loud and clear, London will always welcome refugees,” the Labour Party politician declared.
Protesters in London’s Trafalgar Square hold up a banner denouncing Russia’s President Vladimir Putin as a “war criminal” on March 26th, 2022.
Going further, Olesya Khromeychuk — a historian and director of the Ukrainian Institute — said that while she was confident everyone could find Ukraine on the map, the protest was an opportunity to get to know her country “even better.”
Khromeychuk, who hails from the city of Lviv in western Ukraine but moved to Britain in 2000, went on to say that the crisis will afford London and the wider country to “become even more diverse, even more multicultural.”
Kurt Zindulka / Breitbart NewsHalima Begum of the left-wing race politics think tank the Runnymede Trust expanded by saying that Britain should be more welcoming in its refugee policies, saying it should not “distinguish between who is documented, who is undocumented” — i.e. legal and illegal migrants.
Begum said that the refugee policy should “not stop children at the borders because, guess what, a child doesn’t have documentation, but his or her or their parent has.
“So let’s look forward to a humane refugee policy because you can’t stand up for principles if you can’t show the right principles on your own border,” she concluded.
British actress and activist Emma Thompson also addressed the crowd, dubbing her speech as a “postcard to President Zelensky,” who called on people across the world to take to the streets in protest against the war earlier this week.
Thompson, who has attended previous left-wing demonstrations in London, said: “We think of you every day, we pray for you every day, even those of us who don’t pray — like me — are praying.”
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