A week of blockades and protests begin in East London to stop the set-up of the DSEI arms fair 4 September 2017

A week of blockades and protests have begun outside the Excel Centre, East London, which is due to host the DSEI arms fair next week.

The DSEI arms fair will bring thousands of arms company reps together with representatives of some of the world's most authoritarian regimes.

Campaign Against Arms Trade can provide case studies, background information and statistics on UK and global arms trade

This week, thousands of campaigners will take action at the Excel centre in East London as part of a week of action immediately before Defence & Security Equipment International 2017 (DSEI), one of the world's biggest arms fairs. The action will take place as military equipment arrives, with the aim of stopping the set-up of the event.

Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said:

Thousands of activists and campaigners from across the UK will be outside the Excel Centre this week. We will be united by our opposition to one of the biggest arms fairs in the world.

There will be blockades, actions and protests at the main entrances to DSEI all week, with a separate theme every day to highlight the deadly consequences of the arms trade. The week of action has been called by the Stop the Arms Fair network (which CAAT is part of).

There will be other actions happening during the week of DSEI, including Art the Arms Fair, a major art exhibition in London with art submitted by hundreds of artists, and Arming the World, a series of theatrical performances taking place across London.

The list of countries in attendance will not be published until closer to the event, but past events have included military delegations from a range of abusive regimes; including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and Bahrain.

The arms companies in attendance will include BAE Systems and Raytheon, which make the fighter jets and bombs that are being used by Saudi forces in Yemen.

Andrew continued:

DSEI will bring many of the world’s most appalling regimes together with the biggest arms companies. Right now UK fighter jets and bombs are playing a central role in the destruction of Yemen; what will be the next atrocity they are used in? War, repression and injustice are fuelled by events like DSEI. It’s time to shut it down for good.

If you are planning to write about or attend DSEI then CAAT can provide case studies, background information and analysis of the UK and global arms trade.

ENDS

For further information please contact Andrew at media(at)caat·org·uk or call 020 7281 0297.