THE People's Assembly will be showing solidarity with refugees around the world during a demonstration in Swindon.

Activists will be at the waterfall, in the town centre, from 11am until 1pm on Saturday to highlight the plight of refugees after a series of incidents across Europe and beyond in recent weeks and months.

News of people drowning in a bid to leave Iran, with others suffocating and being forced to live in squalid conditions in Calais has led the group to call on people in Swindon join a protest demonstrating their wish for refugees to be welcome in the UK.

The group is also collecting essentials to send to migrant camps in Calais.

“We want to show this Government that we believe it is unacceptable to treat people in this way and that we expect them, with other European countries, to seek solutions immediately," said Kate Linnegar, secretary of the Swindon People's Assembly group.

"We have a statement saying this, to our MPs which people can sign. Alternatively, I urge people to contact their MPs independently.

"We will be doing some creative art to remind people that the refugees are human beings not just statistics. Come and join us, find out what the refugees need in Calais and sign the statement. Everyone is welcome.

“Motivated by poverty, war and oppression in their home countries, more and more people are risking and often losing their lives to seek safety in Europe.

"While they are hoping for safety and the chance to build a life free from fear and poverty, they are finding European governments responding not with compassion, but with higher and higher fences and ever more elaborate schemes to exclude refugees."

She said European policy had resulted in a crisis in Calais, with thousands of men, woman and children who are only asking for the chance to build a life free from fear and hunger are living in inhumane conditions with inadequate access to food, medicine and shelter.

On Monday, the EU called an emergency meeting of European leaders to address the growing migration crisis.

The presidency of the Council of the European Union, currently held by Luxembourg, announced the "extraordinary justice and home affairs" meeting will be held in two weeks time in Brussels.

It comes after Home Secretary Theresa May released a joint statement with her counterparts from Paris and Berlin calling for an urgent meeting of interior ministers to discuss proposals about how to react to the surge of migrants and refugees reaching European borders.

Jon Timbrell, from the People's Assembly, said refugees should be welcomed to the UK.

"I welcome refugees. When a tiny minority at the top of society controls so much land, money and resources, I refuse to expend any anger on someone who is simply seeking a better life, or believe that they are the cause of declining living standards for working class people in this country,” he said.

For details of how you can contribute to the group's Calais collection, email Swindon.anarchists@yahoo.co.uk or call 01793 522824.