A file photo of Daniel Craig (left) and (right) This image was posted on Instagram by Lea Seydoux
star Daniel Craig,
Downfall actor Bruno Ganz and Oscar-winning directors Susanne Bier and Michael Haneke are among the 3,000 European film professionals, who have signed a petition calling for immediate action concerning the issue of Europe's refugee crisis, said
The Hollywood Reporter.
The online petition, "For a Thousand Lives: Be Human," is an appeal to European governments to help the thousands of refugees, who have lost their lives in their effort to reach Europe.
Others who have signed the petition include actors Lea Seydoux, Dany Boon, Jonas Nay and Katja Riemann and directors Agnieszka Holland, Joshua Oppenheimer, Aki Kaurismaki and Thomas Vinterberg, along with hundreds of professionals from various section of the industry.
The move was made following the publication of a photograph last week of the body of Aylan Kurdi, a Syrian toddler who, along with his mother and elder brother, died trying to flee the civil war in their home country.The photo, which was published on the front pages of newspapers across Europe and the world, has spurned action on the growing refugee crisis.
This week, European leaders agreed to an initial plan to better distribute refugees across the continent, though there are still wide discrepancies between European Union countries.
The UK, for example, has pledged to take in an additional 20,000 refugees over the next five years.
The German government, which expects 800,000 new refugee applications this year alone, has indicated it can absorb half a million refugees a year for several years.
In the petition, the European film industry has called for political leaders to put the values of "Respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights" at the core of European Union asylum policy.
They have called for European nations to act in solidarity for what the group calls "The biggest refugee crisis since World War II."