Asylum hotel protests aren't 'legitimate concerns'. They’re a failure to combat far-right narratives

During last summer’s racist riots, one of our clients at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) was locked in their migrant accommodation in the north-west of England, along with hundreds of others including families and children, due to a mob outside. They were kept inside for three days, and out of fear didn’t leave for another week afterwards. As a Black migrant, he felt that “people might attack me due to my skin colour, and that fear has stayed with me”. On his first visit outside, he was abused by teenagers on bikes, who “held their noses like we smelled bad”. He finds the memory painful, saying it made him “feel small”. 

Read more:

• Asylum hotel protests are spreading. Who’s really behind them?
• A legacy of tragedy: What has changed one year on from the Southport killings?
• I spent a year undercover as a far-right activist. Here’s seven things I learned

A year on, and no lessons seem to have been learned, with the same disgusting racist hatred and violence again rearing its head across England, in Essex, Norfolk, East London, Hampshire and elsewhere. Our client Adam (not his real name) who was housed in London, has been forced to temporarily leave his accommodation due to feeling intimidated by unknown white people hanging around outside, as well as issues with white neighbours. 

Sometimes people move because they choose to, but also because there is no other choice. The 21st century has seen a continuation of postcolonial violence, conflict and economic turmoil, with Global South countries dealing with the ongoing consequences of enslavement, extraction, division and displacement by the Global North. This has led to people seeking sanctuary in Britain. But they are being met with a frightening level of hostility and hatred, from the government and elements of the population.

It has been repeatedly suggested by government ministers, local politicians and in the media that this most recent upsurge in racist intimidation and violence is a result of ‘locals’, with ‘legitimate concerns’. It’s clear, however, that a co-ordinated far-right movement is responsible for this latest round of racist rallies and violence outside migrant accommodation, with multiple online accounts sharing addresses and ‘targets’ across social media, saying: “You know what to do!” One of our staff members who was in Epping on Sunday reported that many of those there were white men seeking to intimidate and pick fights, not the worried mums the media has sought to make out, and large numbers left by train at the end of the day. 

The far-right has long sought to exploit and weaponise concerns over gender-based violence – often based on misinformation –  in support of its own racist and white supremacist agenda, as in Knowsley in 2023, Ballymena earlier this year, and now in Epping. The far-right doesn’t seriously care about it beyond its usefulness as a tool to whip up fear and hatred, and it itself riven with misogyny: more than one-third of those arrested in last summer’s racist riots had previously been reported for domestic abuse.

This current wave of far-right intimidation is just a continuation of the same racist and Islamophobic targeting of migrants, Muslims and people of colour by the far-right and white supremacists that we saw last summer. 

There was no ‘legitimate concern’ motivating people trying to burn down asylum accommodation in Rotherham last summer. Nor was there ‘legitimate concern’ in the racist rioters attacking mosques, stopping drivers to see if they were ‘white’ or ‘English’ or targeting and burning down legal advice centres. This was frenzied, racist hatred against people seeking sanctuary here.

And who is responsible for facilitating and fomenting this hatred? While far-right agitators are clearly involved, and the way misinformation can be published and spread across social media like wildfire has also exacerbated things, these narratives and rhetoric are the direct result of years of racist, dehumanising language and policies by successive governments, politicians and the media. 

Generations of right-wing opportunist politicians have exploited anti-migrant sentiment to distract people and turn them against each other: from Enoch Powell’s “strangers in their own country” to Margaret Thatcher’s “swamped by people with a different culture” and David Cameron’s “swarm of people”, Theresa May’s “go home” vans to Suella Braverman’s “invasion on our southern coast”, Boris Johnson’s Rwanda plan to Sunak’s “stop the boats”, and now Keir Starmer’s “island of strangers”.  

This hateful and racist language has been directly reflected and repeated by the far-right, throughout the riots last year, and now again in places like Epping. The far-right are emboldened by this race to the bottom in migration policies, with political parties battling it out to see who can be the most publicly cruel. 

We are experiencing the consequences of these narratives. They have created a climate where violent racism is spreading and becoming increasingly normalised, harking back to the time of the National Front and the widespread racist violence of the 70s and 80s. 

Despite this, even after last summer’s racist riots, the current government continues to pander to and encourage the far-right with racist, anti-migrant policies (“close the hotels”) and continues to use dehumanising anti-migrant language. This is an embarrassing and dangerous attempt to win back voters they think they’ve lost, and ultimately, to distract from their failures to address the real issues facing our country that have left so many people struggling. 

This anti-migrant hatred is a learned behaviour – a result of these narratives. People aren’t inherently angry about migration: they’re angry about not being able to see a GP or A&E doctor, pay their bills, get a job or necessary support, access safe and good-quality housing – or any housing.

We know who is actually responsible for the economic issues and inequality this country is facing, for our crumbling health service and other public services – it’s the government, which has made political choices to prioritise the wealthy and business interests.

We have to reject these narratives and stand up for our communities. We have to confront these anti-migrant and racist sentiments, wherever they arise. Local residents and political leaders must say clearly and unequivocally: there’s no place for this racist violence or language which incites it. And most importantly right now, we have to organise and turn out to physically resist and defend migrant accommodation and any other potential flashpoints for far-right violence in our communities. 

Griff Ferris is interim advocacy and communications director at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) and Sadaf Ahmed is JCWI’s media and communications manager.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more.