The march started at Cleopatra's Needle on the Embankment and led to a rally in Trafalgar Square. As well as marchers with placards and banners, there were a number of large puppets depicting refugees from different countries.

The UK's treatment of asylum seekers is often inhumane and seems driven more by a desire to look tough on immigration than on any sensible response to the problem. A report by the Independent Asylum Commission last year stated that our treatment of asylum seekers "falls seriously below the standards of civilised society". In particular, as many including MP Iain Duncan Smith have commented, "the policy of making asylum seekers destitute is mean and nasty and has not worked."

Many of those who come here have skills which would contribute to our society - and are keen to do so. Detaining them in immigration prisons when they have committed no crime is costly and inhumane. Allowing them to work would help them and us, as well as reducing the burden of public expenditure.

More pictures from the march on My London Diary.
 http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2009/06/jun.htm#human