by Maria Sofou
Pussy Riot has just released a shocking new video, featuring their song Refugees In, which was shot at Banksy’s Dismaland on its closing day, September 25.
The video is as chaotic and dark as you’d expect while the song features lyrics like “Refugees in, nazis out”, “Fuck the police like we are in Greece”, “Bombing people out of homes / We want peace, not fucking drones”. The controversial group performed on a stage featuring fake protesters and riot police, dedicating the song to all refugees fleeing war and blaming European governments as “fucking liars” that “welcome” them with “razor wires”.
Pussy Riot has also issued an official press release that accompanies the video – here is an excerpt: “Today’s Europe faces a big new challenge. The current refugee crisis will become a defining issue of our generation. Pussy Riot feels this European challenge as their own. Over 750,000 refugees have arrived in Europe so far in 2015. Many more are coming. They are mostly escaping from war or persecution in Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq, Sudan. Thousands are dying on the way. In the U.K., for example, refugees cannot apply for asylum from outside the country—so they are forced to travel there illegally. Why can’t we live in a truly global world, not one with locked borders, razor wires, and refugee camps? … We believe in solidarity with human beings in need, wherever they are from, whatever their background. This is not a question of politics or nationality, but of saving human lives.”
Powerful and angry, the video is a scream towards the world to welcome refugees as they deserve. #OpenEuBorders.
