UK: ‘Die-in’ for drowned migrants snarls up central London

Hundreds of protesters held a 'die-in' under the hashtag #MIGRANTSLIVESMATTER in central London, Thursday, after a boat carrying around 950 migrants including women and children capsized off the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea on Saturday night. The demonstration was organised by the London Black Revs, a self-described "working class urban revolutionary organisation," and blocked traffic for several hours near Parliament Square. Protesters chanted slogans decrying the deaths of migrants, with one participant handing out daffodils to those involved. No arrests were reported. Migrants anxious to escape conflict and strife in North Africa and the Middle East are increasingly making the dangerous and often deadly crossing into European territory, with the London-based activists calling on European countries to facilitate their entry.