Charities have warned of the increasing danger to asylum seekers posed by far-right protesters after small boat arrivals were diverted from Dover to Ramsgate to avoid clashes. Home Office officials received intelligence that some participants in the so-called Great British National Protest in Dover may have planned to target the Kent Intake Unit, where arrivals are initially processed.
A total of 153 people arriving in three dinghies on Saturday were landed in Ramsgate and processed at Manston, a highly unusual move last seen in 2022 during the P&O Ferries crisis. The diversion is thought to have been ordered to avoid potential confrontations with demonstrators, some of whom displayed a flag of the white supremacist party Patriotic Alternative.
Tensions have also escalated at asylum hotels, which have long been targets for the far right. More than 1,000 protesters recently gathered outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, and an asylum seeker described those inside as “very very scared”. An earlier suspected arson attack led to the hotel’s evacuation.
Louise Calvey, executive director of Asylum Matters, said: “It is shameful that as a country refugees have to be protected from extremist demonstrations. They have already been through a living hell. It’s positive that the government took proactive steps on Saturday to protect people but a shame on all of us that this was necessary.” She called for risk assessments of arrivals mechanisms and accommodation.
A Home Office spokesperson said 24-hour security monitoring of hotels was in place and that critical incident management could be rapidly adapted. They added that the use of asylum hotels would be ended by 2029, saving £1bn a year, by speeding up decision-making and working with local authorities.
