Thursday 10 September 2015 8:58 am

EU migrant crisis: Londoners organise a march on Downing Street to urge government to welcome refugees

A march on Downing Street has been organised for next week by Londoners who want to push the government to accept more refugees into the UK.

The event on 12 September has been called in response to “various reports of refugees fleeing war, persecution, torture and poverty, losing their lives or struggling to find a safe haven", the organisers said on Facebook.

The national day of action was called by a coalition including Stand up to Racism, Stop the War Coalition and Migrant Rights Network War on Want.

Sabby Dhalu, who represents Stand Up To Racism, said over 10,000 people were expected to turn out next Saturday for the march: "There is a huge level of support, the largest amount the movement has galvanised in at least the last two decades."

The event, posted on Facebook, said reports include the death of 200 refugees off the coast of Libya, around 70 refugees in a truck in Austria and on-going reports of refugees drowning crossing the Mediterranean, stranded in Hungary and prohibited from moving around the EU, and those in Calais struggling to find sanctuary.

“Unlike Germany, Italy and Greece, Britain has not offered a safe haven for these people”, the event organisers added.

The organisers want to see the UK share more of the burden. "It is extremely irresponsible for the UK to leave the responsibility to other countries. A few thousand does not match up to the scale of the crisis, especially when you look at countries such as Turkey and Germany. There is no reason Britain can't take a lead on this important issue," Dhalu said.

Germany, in particular, anticipates accepting 800,000 refugees this year, almost four times the amount the country took in last year, and larger than the rest of the European Union combined in 2014.

This comes after David Cameron pledged to let “thousands” more refugees into the UK, as well as adding £100m of aid to help Syrian refugee camps.