Historical information

Thousands of life jackets have been laid out on the grass in Parliament Square in London, as world leaders meet at the United Nations in New York to discuss the refugee crisis. The 2,500 jackets used in the one-day "life jacket graveyard" installation were all worn by those who tried to make the crossing from Turkey to the Greek island of Chios. More than 600 of the life jackets on display were used by children, but most of them are pretty useless. A lot of the life jackets provided by people smugglers are virtually fake, and actually soak up water instead — several of those displayed were sliced open.