Amnesty protest ahead of EU summit on migrants
(17 Mar 2016) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLY AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY Brussels, Belgium - 17 March 2016 1. Pan of pro-Kurdish demonstrators, holding banners and flags and chanting 2. Kurdish demonstrators holding a banner reading (French) "Davutoglu assassin. Get out of Brussels" 3. Close of demonstrator shouting (English) "Turkey terrorist" 4. Demonstrators holding a banner showing pictures of violence and reading (English/Turkish) "Erdogan murderer of the peace" 5. SOUNDBITE (French) Sadiye Suzer, Kurdish woman living in Belgium: "What is going on with the Turkish government in our country, on our lands in Kurdistan is a genocide and Europe shuts its eyes. The whole world is closing their eyes on the genocide that is happening now." 6. Kurdish demonstrators 7. Protester shouting on megaphone 8. Various of demonstrators chanting 9. Wide of Amnesty international demonstrator displaying life jackets 10. Close up of life jackets reading (English) "Stop the deal" 11. Wide of life jackets with EU commission building in the background 12. Iverna McGowan, Amnesty EU office director, speaking to reporters 13. SOUNDBITE (English) Iverna McGowan, Amnesty EU office director: "First and foremost we have to recognise that Turkey, by no stretch of the imagination, can be considered a safe country for refugees and asylum seekers. This is factually incorrect. Amnesty International has repeatedly documented push backs from Syrians back into the Syrian border from Turkey. That is a serious violation of international law. On top of that only Syrians have some protection in Turkey. In reality their living conditions leave a lot to be desired. Other nationalities have no rights." 14. Close up of life jacket reading (English) "Don't trade refugees" and "Stop the deal" with EU commission building in the background 15. SOUNDBITE (English) Iverna McGowan, Amnesty EU office director: "The heads of governments and the leaders in the Council will have you believe today that we are facing a crisis, but it's not. There are over 500 million people living in the European Union, one million arrived last year. That's 1/500th million of our population have arrived. What is actually lacking is the political courage and will to stand for international principles and offer a hand of humanity to the most vulnerable people who are fleeing in the world." 16. Wide of demonstrators 17. Two Amnesty International demonstrators 18. Close up of sticker on demonstrator's jacket reading (English) "Don't trade refugees" STORYLINE Demonstrators gathered outside an European Union Council on Thursday ahead of a migration summit, to protest against the plight of refugees in Turkey. Alongside the demo organised by Amnesty International, a group of Kurds gathered to voice their anger at what they see as a "genocide" of the Kurdish population by the Turkish government. European leaders were gathering later Thursday to discuss plans to send tens of thousands of migrants back to Turkey amid deep divisions over how to manage Europe's biggest refugee emergency in decades. The Amnesty EU office director said Turkey was not a safe place for refugees and asylum seekers. Iverna McGowan said Amnesty International has repeatedly documented push backs from Syrians back into the Syrian border from Turkey and denounced the living conditions of Syrians and migrants of other nationalities in the country. Meanwhile, a group of around 50 Kurdish demonstrators chanted against Turkish leaders, including Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu who was due to attend the talks in Brussels. Clients are reminded: Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
