Europe to march in support of refugees

Migrants and refugees cross the border between Greece and Macedonia near the town of Gevgelija, Macedonia, on September 11, 2015 LONDON - T...

Migrants and refugees cross the border between Greece and Macedonia near the town of Gevgelija, Macedonia, on September 11, 2015

LONDON - Tens of thousands of people are expected to demonstrate Saturday in a Europe-wide "day of action" in solidarity with refugees, with a handful of rival anti-migrant protests also to take place.

In London alone, almost 90,000 people have indicated they will join the pro-refugee demonstrations, with Berlin, Vienna and Lisbon also hosting rallies.

"It's time to speak out against the deadly borders that have been enacted in our name," organisers wrote in a rallying cry on a Facebook page called "European day of action for refugees".

"We want to show, with thousands of people all over Europe, our solidarity with those fleeing war, violence and destitution," it said.

"We want to let all the refugees know: You are welcome!"

By Friday afternoon, 89,000 people had registered their intention on Facebook to join a march in central London which begins at 1100 GMT.

Demonstrators will gather at Park Lane by Hyde Park and march towards the Downing Street residence of Prime Minister David Cameron.

Similar protests and candlelit vigils will also take place in other cities across Britain.

In Portugal, more than 4,000 people are to join a series of demonstrations in Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Felgueiras and Faro, organisers said on Facebook.

More than 5,000 people have signed up for a candlelit vigil in Berlin, while in Vienna, 6,000 are expected to rally. Several thousand are also expected at a demonstration in Athens.

In France, several rallies will take place in Nice, Metz, Lyon and Avignon.



- Rival rallies -



Meanwhile rival pro- and anti-refugee demonstrations have been planned in several countries in eastern Europe.

In Warsaw there will be two demonstrations, one organised by the far-right, and another pro-migrant rally organised by NGOs.

Around 3,000 pro-refugee demonstrators are expected to gather in Prague, while an anti-migrant protest is expected to attract some 2,000 people.

There will also be an anti-migrant march in Bratislava by the far-right Marian Kotleba, governor of a central Slovak region.

The marches were called as Europe struggles with its biggest movement of people since World War II, with figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) showing more than 430,000 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean since the start of the year.

Another 2,750 have died attempting the journey.

The European Union's 28 interior ministers are to meet Monday to discuss a plan floated this week by the European Commission which involves a quota system for distributing 160,000 refugees around the bloc.

Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary have ruled out acceptance of the compulsory quota system while Britain, which is exempt from EU asylum policy, has confirmed it will not take part.