Activists have hit out after the latest European Social Forum (ESF), held in London, failed to attract the most vulnerable and deprived members of society due to being staged in one of the world's most expensive cities.
The three-day forum ended Sunday with the publication of a text calling for a Europe that was both pacifist and social-minded, and also for a day of demonstration throughout the continent on March 19, 2005.
"This forum in London is not reality. We aren't seeing the unemployed, nor immigrants" in attendance, Brazilian activist Anselmo Schweltzner told a seminar ahead of the ESF's close Sunday.
The three-day ESF has seen around 19,000 activists from around the world defend the rights of workers and minorities, promote efforts to protect the environment and protest against the US-led war in Iraq.
Thousands of activists were expected to throng the streets of central London on Sunday to protest the Iraq invasion in March 2003.
Activists lamented the fact the forum took place in the British capital, however.
"It should never have taken place in London because it is too expensive. It is a shame," added Schweltzner, among the many activists joined to discuss alternatives to globalisation.
"How can someone unemployed come here, just look at the entrance cost?" questioned Mathilde Unger, a leading figure for Agir, a French pressure group supporting the jobless.
And she added: "How can someone vulnerable, obliged in this country to have several jobs in order to survive, find the time to participate in the debates?"
Entry to the ESF cost 20 pounds (29 euros, 36 dollars) for someone unemployed and 30 pounds for a worker, if paid in advance. The figure rose to between 30 and 40 pounds at the door. This was in contrast to last year's event in Paris, when entrance fees ranged between three and 50 euros, depending on each person's earnings.
Jean-Baptiste Eyraud, representing No Vox - the French lobby group on behalf of people without official papers, housing and jobs - said it had been difficult for the most vulnerable to voice their opinions at the forum's seminars.