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Demo in Berlin: "You failed"
Photo: Christoph Soeder / dpa
In several German cities, demonstrations took place over the weekend for the acceptance of threatened people from Afghanistan.
Hundreds of demonstrators came in front of the Federal Chancellery in the pouring rain.
Speakers called for local Bundeswehr personnel, human rights activists, women's rights activists, scientists and athletes to leave quickly.
The Berlin police spoke of around 1700 participants.
There were many young people and women among them.
In the afternoon they marched through the government district to the Foreign Office with umbrellas.
An alliance of aid organizations, including Seebrücke, Pro Asyl and the Berlin Refugee Council, called for the protest under the motto "Afghanistan: take responsibility - take up now!"
An Afghan speaker said he went on a hunger strike five days ago in front of the Foreign Office. It said that his brother worked for the German armed forces in Afghanistan for nine years. Germany has left its brother and his wife and children in the lurch. "They're going to be slaughtered." Another banner reads in large letters: "You have failed".
According to the refugee organization Seebrücke, around 3,000 people demonstrated on Sunday in Hamburg, the police said around 2,500 participants.
In Kiel, several hundred people campaigned to quickly help vulnerable people in Afghanistan.
On Saturday several hundred demonstrators in cities in Lower Saxony called for safe escape routes for people at risk from Afghanistan.
There were also protests in Frankfurt am Main.
ime / dpa