Residents in Kent are working to build community cohesion in response to growing numbers of migrants, with many locals distancing themselves from anti-migrant protests that often attract outsiders. Charlie Zosseder, director of the charity Samphire, said: 'You don't see many locals coming out for the anti-migrant protests.' Most migrants are intercepted by Border Force and taken to the Manston centre before being sent elsewhere, leaving little direct contact with local communities.
In Margate, Labour councillor Rob Yates has helped create a WhatsApp group for supporting refugees, which now has 300 active members. The group helps find accommodation, sim cards, mobile phones, clothes, and links people with private rented housing. There is also an asylum seeker football team called Margate Phoenix and English language lessons. Yates said: 'You've either got to work with these guys in your community, or they'll be targeted by county line drug dealing.'
Last year, Yates led a protest that blocked Home Office coaches from moving asylum seekers from a Margate hotel to the Bibby Stockholm barge. He argued that the lack of local oversight over the refugee system, managed centrally by the Home Office, leads to less humane treatment. 'If we don't do something, nothing will happen,' he said.
Kent county council has seen a surge in referrals for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, rising from 478 in 2020 to 2,836 in 2024. The cost of their care is borne by the government, but council leader Linden Kemkaran has raised concerns about delays in immigration decisions leading to post-18 housing costs.
Kent Refugee Action Network, formed in 2003, now handles 350 cases a year, providing mentoring, immigration help, and donated bikes. Lou Roberts, a project developer, said: 'A lot of people realise you've got to be vocal and actually do something to counter other messages.'
