London, UK
Over 500 Tamil-speaking people marched with other trade unions and political groups on the May Day demonstration in London. Activists collected signatures against the Sri Lankan regime and expressed their anger at the inaction of the UN and other western powers with regard to the massacre that took place during the final stages of the war in May 2009, as was acknowledged in the recent UN panel report.
Antwerp, Belgium
About 20 to 30 Tamil people joined the May Day demonstration in Antwerp to raise their protest against the war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa and to show their anger against the violence and repression against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.
Activists carried a homemade Tamil Solidarity banner which said: “Tamils against war and racism. All that divides us, makes us weaker.” in Dutch and Tamil. They formed a joint contingent with youth activists campaigning for jobs, shouting slogans in Dutch and Tamil with the participants learning, step by step, the slogans in the other language.
We also campaigned for an action on 18 May in front of the European parliament to remember the war victims and to protest against the war brutalities. This protest will take place on 18 May from 14-16h (2-4pm) at the Place Schumann.
Some pictures of the May Day protest in Antwerp can be found here: http://tamilsolidariteit.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/1-mei-in-antwerpen/