Strangers into Citizens Rally

Thousands of people, from all nationalities, came together to give a voice to the migrant worker population. Many gathered in Trafalgar square to hear the Asian Dub Foundation play and various political speakers from across Europe and the World give their opinion about how Britain treats migant workers. Overall, there was a concensus that there needs to be change by regularising undocumented migrants who have worked in UK for years but do not enjoy any rights. It also highlighted the plight of Malaysians with British-overseas-citizenship, who are often turned away by their own country (UK) eventhough they were born with only British passports.

For our group, the events began in Chinatown where the speeches drew attention from hundreds of Chinese migrants. After the lion-dog and dragon performance, the crowds of hundreds of Chinese followed the lion-dogs on a march to Trafalgar square chanting about workers rights. The event was an overall success which we hope will catch the eye of the Conservatives and Labour (as Liberal Democrats already support us), in order for the regularisation of migrant workers to be passed in parliament. It was touching to see the Chinese community stand so strong and united, of all ages. Those who could not join us, gazed out of their shop windows to watch the march. One man held a sign which struck me most. It said, 'black cats can also catch mice, ability has no ethnicity.' And this captured the essence of the campaign.