Statement in response to far-right violence and destruction

Following the horrific killings of three young girls in Southport last week, where eight other children and two adults were also seriously injured, we have found ourselves experiencing deep sorrow and sadness. We are downcast not only by the violence and murder committed against some of the most vulnerable in our society, but also now by the twisted response of far-right groups across the UK.

The violence and rioting that we have seen take place in recent days targeting people of colour, Muslims and people seeking asylum is sickening. It is deeply disturbing to have seen images and footage of a hotel in Rotherham, housing people seeking asylum, under attack from far-right rioters who smashed windows and gained entry to the hotel. Similar scenes of violence have been seen on our doorsteps, in some of the communities we work in across Greater Manchester.

Let’s be clear, these far-right individuals are not protesting because of what happened in Southport last week. They are instead using the tragic event as an opportunity to do what they stand for: to intimidate and frighten, to commit violence, to sow division and hostility, and to further their racist and hateful ideology against people seeking asylum, Muslims and people of colour. Their destruction of community spaces such as libraries, the looting of shops and the destruction of properties demonstrates that they actually also seek to destroy the very fabric of society with disdain for anybody except themselves.

Organisations like Hope Not Hate, and asylum and immigration charities like ourselves, have been warning for so long now about the threats that the far-right poses to our society, bolstered by a toxic political and media discourse.

For too long there has been a situation where the denigration of people seeking asylum in the UK has not only been fuelled by the explicit racism of high profile individuals such as Nigel Farage MP and Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, but also by previous governments who helped to embolden far-right groups and individuals with their own consistent inflammatory language used to describe people seeking asylum. They repeatedly chose to use a rhetoric that stirred up hatred for and hostility towards people seeking asylum. Now we are seeing violence play out that we as a sector have been predicting and pleading about for so long.

We will not be cowed by violent individuals and groups who seek to sow hatred and division in our society. We will continue to stand up for those in need of safety and sanctuary. We are buoyed by a belief that more people are motivated by love and compassion, than are fuelled by hatred or ignorance. We stand for and believe in a society in which love wins.

Image Credit | Love Thy Neighbor by Alisdare Hickson