Thousands of people took to the streets of Cologne, Germany, on Thursday to march against racism on the occasion of the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The event, organised in North Rhine-Westphalia’s largest city, underlined a collective determination to fight racial prejudice and promote inclusiveness.
Gathering at six locations across the city, participants waved placards with anti-racist messages and chanted slogans condemning discrimination of any kind.
Speeches after the march criticised secret meetings held in Potsdam by politicians from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and Austrian nationalist Martin Sellner on a plan to deport millions of people of foreign origin from Germany.
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March. On this day in 1960, police shot and killed 69 people during a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, protesting against the apartheid regime’s compulsory passporting laws for Africans in South Africa. In proclaiming the Day in 1966, the General Assembly called upon the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.
