On the occasion of September 21st - the International Day of Peace, Women in Black will organized on Wednesday, September 21st 2016, from 3.30pm to 4.30pm, a peace action in black and in silence in Knez Mihailova Street, Belgrade.
The war in Syria, which lasts for more than five years has caused appalling consequences - over 300.000 killed, over ten million refugees and displaced people, a huge number of raped women and girls, destruction of the of whole cities, villages...
On behalf of the geostrategic, energetic and territorial objectives, countless armed formations, for five years is killing, torturing and expelling the civilian population. And not only in Syria but also in the whole area of the Near and Middle East. In the name of profit gained by destruction and killing, machinery of production of conflict encourages the hatred - religious, ethnic, racial...
Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria and the Middle East, fleeing the war, seeking refuge in Europe, where they are greeted by wire fences, walls, new types of concentration camps, smuggling networks, harassment by police, military and civilian authorities...
In Serbia, instead of the supposed "humane" policy, which was actually calculated to obtain foreign support and generous financial assistance in the name of refugees, introduced drastic repressive measures. The masks have fallen: the preparation of the terrain similar to that in Hungary and some other countries in the region - war refugees are becoming restricted from the freedom of movement. National tabloids, under the influence of Government, incite hatred, racism and xenophobia ...
While the EU and the Balkans closing refugee routes, roads for arms trade are free, open and very profitable. The weapon ends up in the hands of the armed forces in Syria and elsewhere, further fueling the war, endangering the already small chance for suspension of hostilities or alleged peace agreement.
Serbian officials gave shameful explanations of Serbian arms exports, that it has positive influence on the development of the defense industry in Serbia and that “our citizens live from that money”: it should be known that these weapons continue to cause killing and suffering of civilians.
It is especially shameful that in a region that has recently experienced the horrors of war there is no other way to make money then from producing and selling instruments of death.
Stop the War, Not Refugees!
Stop the sale of weapons, not refugees!
Stop people smugglers, not the refugees!
Belgrade, September 20th 2016
