UP TO 50 anti-Trump protestors – including a Syrian refugee family – gathered with placards and candles in Petersfield Square.
Chanting ‘no hate, no fear, refugees welcome here’, they were protesting at Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Under it, travellers, immigrants and refugees from Muslim-majority countries such as Syria are banned from entering the USA.
The Petersfield demonstration and vigil coincided with others in towns and cities around the country and in America.
Five members of a Syrian family given refuge in East Hampshire eight months ago, with help from Petersfield based Rural Refugee Network (RRN), were present at the protest and were cheered by the support. One, a 16-year-old girl, said she felt proud at the protest. “When I came to the UK, everyone said ‘you are welcome here’. Small things can make big things.”
The protest on Monday, January 30, was organised hastily on social media today by RNN co-chairman Julia Thistleton-Smith and others. It follows a ‘Bridges Not Walls’ banner demonstration last week at the A3 bridge at Bell Hill in Petersfield.
Said Julia: “I was horrified by the weekend’s events, and I don’t think it’s enough to stay silent. We have all got to stand up and take action. What he is doing is unacceptable and unconstitutional.”
American Mimi Baines, of Liss, who has lived in this country for 35 years, said: “This ban is counter-productive. It feeds into the terrorism. I am against turning our back on those who are most vulnerable and needy.” She was heartened too by the Petersfield response to events in her homeland.
Natasha Kirwan, of Steep, had brought her children Dora (8) and Ossian (10), pupils at Steep Primary School, to The Square.
“If you have lots of small voices gathering in small towns like Petersfield, you end up having a big crowd of connected people,” she said. “I wanted to bring my children to show how important that is.”
Ossian said he was there “because Trump is stopping people from going into America. People from countries with Muslims.”