A vigil is to be held at The Liverpool Biennial arts project The List, following recent vandalism.

The piece on Great George Street lists the name of refugees and migrants who lost their lives trying to reach Europe, but has been damaged twice since it was put up.

Members of the public are being invited to take part in the vigil on Wednesday 22 August, which has been organised by Riverside ward councillors in conjunction with Stand Up to Racism and Unite Against Fascism.

The aim is to remember all those who lost their lives at sea; refugees and asylum seekers fleeing persecution, workers migrating to a new life or the victims of slavery.

Steve Munby, Riverside ward councillor, says: “Liverpool 1 was a focus for people arriving in the city and emigrants to the ‘New World’ fleeing famine in Ireland. Liverpool is a city built by migrants and we can never forget this.

“The city has been at its worst when people moved away but always thrived when people move here.

Banu Cennetoğlu, list of 13,824 documented deaths of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants due to the restrictive policies of Fortress Europe. Documentation as of 17.06.2010 by UNITED for Intercultural Action. 72 posters in German. 31 January – 8 February 2011.Basel, Switzerland. In collaboration with Kunsthalle Basel

“We have a reputation for welcoming victims of tyranny seeking to escape oppression from Franco’s victims in the Spanish Civil War to Jewish people escaping Hitler’s Germany, Chileans fleeing the Pinochet dictatorship and South Africans fleeing apartheid.

“We should do that today for people escaping civil wars in Syria and Yemen or wars and slavery in parts of North Africa.”

The List, which features 34,361 names, was vandalised on 28 July and again last week.

Banu Cennetoğlu, the artist behind the piece, has decided not to put it up for a third time, leaving the remains on display as a “reminder of this systematic violence exercised against people”.

Paul Jenkins of Unite Against Fascism, adds: “We welcome the arts project on Great George Street, which remembers refugees and migrants who have lost their lives.

“The vast majority of people in Merseyside oppose racism, and migrants are welcome here.”

The vigil will be held on Great George Street on Wednesday 22 August at 6pm.

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