Wolverhampton's show of solidarity for refugee rights across world
The rights of refugees were brought to the forefront in a show of solidarity and togetherness around a city monument.
More than 30 people joined hands and stood in silence around the Prince Albert statue, affectionately known as 'The Man on the Horse', in Queen Square in Wolverhampton, to show solidarity with asylum seekers and refugees, and opposition to the Nationality and Borders Bill.
The people of Ukraine were at the forefront of the demonstrators' minds, as were those heading to the UK from Afghanistan, Syria and other countries.
The group, which included members of Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary, Humans of Wolverhampton and Wolverhampton Amnesty Group, stood in silence for five minutes, with each person holding a sign showing an orange heart with the message of #WolvesWithRefugees.
Amanda Bevan from Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary organised the event and said it was about calling on the Government to show compassion and warmth towards refugees.
She said: "At City of Sanctuary, we've been welcoming refugees and asylum seekers into our city for some considerable time.
"The Nationality and Borders Bill is a piece of legislation that is headlined as making it better for people trying to come into this country, but in fact is not as it is preventing people from coming here and denying them the rights they should have under the refugee convention.
"What it will do is make for a two-tier system where people who come in ways that the Government don't like will not have proper asylum status in this country and will never be able to settle effectively here."
Ms Bevan said the recent Ukraine crisis had shown the Government were able to agree to make it easier for Ukrainian refugees to find safety in the UK and said the event was the group's way of asking the Government to make the process easier for people in need.
She said: "We're seeing people in desperate situations who need to come in and who have got families here and communities who have got resources and want to help and support them, but the Government are not making it possible.
"It seems to be impossible, even when they're saying it's possible, which frustrates people and you look at Syria and Afghanistan, where the Government said it was going to put a scheme, but people are still trapped in those countries.
"I think we're a compassionate nation, but our Government is completely out of step at the moment, so I hope they would listen to the people as we're not going to let this go away."
