Volunteer lifeboat crews who rescued migrants from an overloaded Channel dinghy have been branded “traitors” and subjected to threats and abuse, prompting the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to review its security procedures.
The backlash follows Sunday’s operation, when crews from Bembridge and Yarmouth were scrambled to assist a dangerously overloaded migrant “mega-dinghy” that had crossed from the French coast. The rescue lasted nearly 12 hours, and after taking the migrants aboard, the crews were initially unable to land them at Southampton or Portsmouth before being directed to Eastney.
Violent protests and online threats
At Eastney, an ugly protest unfolded, with demonstrators dressed in black and wearing balaclavas. Police faced serious disorder, with bricks and other missiles thrown, officers injured, and vehicles damaged. The poison then turned on the RNLI.
Volunteers have been branded “traitors,” photographs purporting to identify crew members have circulated online, and personal information has reportedly been shared, with threats directed at volunteers and their families. The situation has become so poisonous that police patrols and private security have been deployed around lifeboat stations, while volunteers have reportedly been told they need not wear RNLI-branded clothing if worried about being identified.
Security review and continued protests
The RNLI said it was reviewing its security procedures to protect the very people whose only crime is volunteering to save lives. Stations and shops can be closed if staff or volunteers feel unsafe, and crews have been given advice about avoiding confrontation.
Around 50 protesters gathered outside the RNLI's headquarters and training college in Poole on Wednesday, with demonstrators calling on the public to stop donating to the charity. The protest took place amid a substantial police and private-security presence. Patriot Platform, whose supporters have been prominent at anti-migrant demonstrations, has made clear the protests are not over. Its founder Daniel Thomas has defended protesters wearing masks and balaclavas and declared: “This is only the beginning.”
Lifeboats stand by to save protesters
There was one glorious detail amid the stupidity. When some of the protesters themselves ventured into the water at Eastney, RNLI lifeboats stood by in case they got into difficulty. The people being abused were prepared to risk their lives to save the people abusing them.
There are plenty of legitimate targets for public fury over the Channel catastrophe, including people-trafficking gangs, French authorities who still seem unable to stop boats leaving their coastline, and successive governments which promised to stop the boats and then failed.
But the RNLI? Last year, its lifeboats launched 9,058 times. Just 109 launches – around 1.2 percent – involved small migrant boats in the Channel. The rest involved fishermen, sailors, swimmers, paddleboarders, children and ordinary families whose pleasant day beside the sea suddenly became a fight for survival.
When that familiar orange lifeboat comes crashing through the waves, its crew won't ask your politics, your nationality or whether you “deserve” saving. They'll just save you. Protest against illegal immigration, demand secure borders, demand the boats are stopped before they leave France, demand the trafficking gangs are smashed – but directing fury at the volunteers who pull drowning people from the sea isn't patriotism. It is attacking one of the institutions which represents Britain at its absolute best. The RNLI aren't traitors. They are heroes.
