London (PA Media\/dpa) – A giant puppet of a Syrian child refugee has landed in Kent and taken its first steps in Britain as it continues its 5,000-mile journey symbolising \u00abmillions of displaced children.\u00bb<\/p>\n
Little Amal has travelled through much of Europe after setting off from the Turkish-Syrian border in July and will finish in Manchester.<\/p>\n
The 3.5-metre tall puppet of a 9-year-old girl has been greeted by communities all along its epic journey, designed to highlight the plight of child refugees.<\/p>\n
It was greeted by actor Jude Law on Folkestone Seafront after arriving in England on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The puppet’s long trek is intended to be a walk for all the children, many unaccompanied and separated from their families, who are forced to undertake extraordinary journeys under life-threatening conditions.<\/p>\n
\u00abLittle Amal will walk so that we don’t forget them,\u00bb organizers say.<\/p>\n
The puppet was made by War Horse creators Handspring Puppet Company from a moulded cane body with carbon fibre head, arms and legs.<\/p>\n
Little Amal is operated by three people, one standing on a pair of stilts inside its body and two others beside moving its arms.<\/p>\n
It comes as the UK Government faces continued criticism over its planned Nationality and Borders Bill, as well as its response to English Channel crossings.<\/p>\n
More than 19,500 people have made the dangerous journey across the Dover Strait to Britain this year aboard small boats, according to data compiled by the PA news agency.<\/p>\n
Despite this, the UK continues to see far fewer boat arrivals and asylum claims than many of its European counterparts.<\/p>\n
At least 87,449 people have arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean by land and sea so far this year, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).<\/p>\n
At least 1,299 people are estimated to be dead or missing, according to the same data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
London (PA Media\/dpa) – A giant puppet of a Syrian child refugee has landed in Kent and taken its first steps in Britain as it continues its 5,000-mile journey symbolising \u00abmillions of displaced children.\u00bb Little Amal has travelled through much of Europe after setting off from the Turkish-Syrian border in July and will finish in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1077464,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1100216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualidad"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t