Artist wakes Europe's conscience with a minute of silence symbolizing deafness to the cause of refugees

Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that when the news spread at the end of October that another 11 children had drowned attempting to reach Greece, the actor Benedict Cumberbatch suddenly exploded: "Fuck the politicians!" the otherwise meticulously cultivated actor told the upper classes of the theater-going public in London after a performance of "Hamlet". He followed that with an urgent intercession on behalf of the thousands of refugees who are disembarking daily on the beaches of Europe.

Cumberbatch has already raised more than GBP 150 000

Since August the television star of the "Sherlock" series has been making these passionate speeches in support of migrants from the stage of London’s Barbican Centre.

The nightly collections there have already raised GBP 150 000 for the Save the Children organization.

Artists all over Europe are similarly speaking up about the migration. They are determined to prevent the anger felt at governments already quarreling over the crisis

from resulting in antagonism or indifference towards refugees fleeing poverty and war.

Artist Raoul Haspel became the best-selling artist on iTunes in Austria with a minute of silence symbolizing the deafness towards these people’s suffering and performed

the piece before 150 000 people at an outdoor concert in Vienna. At the "Jungle" refugee camp in Calais a theater has opened up that is supported by leading British

directors in order to lift the spirits of those who have ended up in the sordid facility on the northern French coast.

Nobel Prize winner criticizes Europe for arrogance and cynicism

The Austrian winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Elfriede Jelinek, has even rewritten her 2013 play, "The Protégés" (Die Schutzbefohlenen) to criticize the

"arrogance and cynicism" of Europe’s reaction to the suffering on its doorstep. As the crisis has begun to retreat from the front pages of the newspapers, Cumberbatch

said he could feel he was facing an influx of apathy when he tells audiences that 5 000 migrants a day are arriving on the Greek island of Lesbos.

"No one puts children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land," he said, quoting the poem "Home" by Somali poet Warsan Shire. Another 20 children have

drowned in the Aegean since Cumberbatch lost it onstage and an estimated 110 children have drowned since September, when the conscience of the world was first shaken

by photographs of a Syrian boy named Aylan whose body was found washed up on a Turkish beach.

Daniel Craig: We are witnessing a human tragedy

Oscar-nominated actress Samantha Morton has offered to let refugees live on land she owns, while the star who plays James Bond, Daniel Craig, told the AFP that "There

is a human tragedy going on. It is up to European governments to step forward and get this sorted."

Morton said history will not be kind to governments such as Britain’s, which has offered to receive just 20 000 refugees over the next five years, while the author of

the "Harry Potter" series, J.K. Rowling, condemned that decision as "most shameful" given that the UN anticipates there will be as many as 1.35 million refugees in

Europe by February. "People will look back and judge this," Morton said.

Filmmakers led by Michel Hazanavicius have lobbied in Brussels for decisive action and warned against the rising xenophobia that is being fed by the EU’s inability to

cope with the problem. "It seems Europe wants to do crisis management, while we want a Europe that clearly and loudly announces its values," he said last month when

releasing a petition signed by leading celebrities of cinematography.

Oscar-winning director: Europe must stop demagoguery and populism

"The only way Europe can halt the dangerous approach of demagoguery and population is to remain humane and political," Hazanavicius, who directed the Oscar-winning

film "The Artist", said. It is not just the EU that is failing, however.

Director Daniel Barenboim emphasized that the Arab world must take up its share of the burden as well. "Europe alone cannot manage to cope with the Syrian refugees…

The Arab world should also take them," he told journalists.

Not all artists, however, are waving the migrant banner. Graffiti artist Dan Park last month sparked outrage in Sweden with posters reading "Welcome, terrorist, bring

your own weapons." Swedish popular singer Christer Sandelin also cast doubt on the open-door approach when he remarked on Facebook: "Is there anyone here who is of the

opinion that we can aid the 2 000 refugees who are daily entering our country (but not Norway, Denmark or Finland). What’s going on here???"

On the other hand Swedish singer Carola, who won the Eurovision contest in 1991, claims that Park and Sandelin do not represent Swedes and has accommodated migrants in

her own home. Another Eurovision winner, the bearded Austrian singer Conchita Wurst, has supported the Pope’s call to Catholic parishes to take in refugees and has

appeared together with Peter Gabriel in a video for the song "Say Something" by British singer Charlie Winston.