‘Asylum seekers feel hunted amid scenes of hate on UK streets’ as protests go on

Aine Fox, PA Social Affairs Correspondent

Asylum seekers in hotels feel “hunted” by protests, campaigners said as one Afghan man told of being seen as “an enemy” after fleeing to the UK for a safer life.

Multiple demonstrations outside hotels used to temporarily house asylum seekers are expected in the coming days.

Stand Up To Racism is preparing to hold counter-protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers on Friday and Saturday.

Demonstrations in recent weeks have left some of those seeking asylum feeling “afraid to go outside”, according to Asylum Matters, which works with asylum seekers and refugees.

Many feel “hunted” amid scenes of “hate and intimidation on Britain’s streets”, the Freedom from Torture charity said.

Meanwhile, a 26-year-old Afghan man who has been living in a hotel in Yorkshire for almost two years, said he is scared of what might happen to him here.

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Targeted

Going under a pseudonym of Daastan, he said he had been in the hotel since October 2023 and that he came to the UK after his family were targeted by the Taliban.

Speaking through the Refugee Council, he said he felt “very depressed” at how long his case had been in the system – one year for his asylum application to be considered and another year for an appeal after his initial application was rejected for what he said were “very minor reasons” – which had left his own solicitor confused.

On his experience of late, he said: “I feel like nobody likes me, the people of this city don’t want us, but I don’t have any other option. It’s really hit my confidence.

“Before I used to talk very socially with everyone. Now I’m scared, what if they abuse you, what if they record you? It’s hard. I can’t explain – but this year it has totally changed. People see us as an enemy.”

He said he feels “like I’m a burden, I don’t want to stay like this”, adding that if people were not stuck in the system for so long they would be able to work and pay taxes.

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Causing alarm

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said: “Protests against people seeking asylum are causing alarm amongst adults and children who have fled war in countries such as Sudan and Afghanistan.

“Last summer, we witnessed refugees we support fear for their lives as an angry mob tried to set fire to the hotel where they were living.

“Rhetoric that dehumanises people who’ve come to Britain seeking sanctuary creates a climate where violence can flourish.”

He said while some people do have “valid questions about why hotels are used, these concerns are being hijacked by a violent minority” and that asylum hotels had “become flashpoints – a symbol of a broken system that traps people in limbo, unable to work or rebuild their lives at huge public cost”.

Louise Calvey, executive director of Asylum Matters, said: “At the moment, we’re seeing people seeking asylum feeling afraid to go outside, in the country where they were meant to be safe. Children watching crowds of adults shout at them to leave, when they have nowhere else to go. People working in charities supporting refugees facing personal threats, having to increase their security.”

Hunted

Kolbassia Haoussou, from Freedom from Torture, said: “The recent scenes of hate and intimidation on Britain’s streets, stirred up by politicians for their own ends, have left the survivors we support feeling hunted once more.

“Many of the men, women and children in hotels have come here seeking protection after enduring torture in countries like Afghanistan and Iran.

“This is not who we are as a country. When people fled Ukraine, communities across the UK opened their doors with extraordinary compassion.

“That same humanity should extend to anyone escaping war and persecution. If we want the UK to remain a place of welcome, we must stand shoulder to shoulder with all refugees.”

Several protests and counter-protests were held in the Essex town of Epping since a then-resident at the Bell hotel was accused of trying to kiss a teenage girl – charges he denies and which he is due to stand trial for later this month.

Some protests have seen demonstrators hold signs referencing women’s safety, but campaigners including Rape Crisis and Refuge have warned that conversations about violence against women and girls are being “hijacked by an anti-migrant agenda” which they argued fuels divisions and harms survivors.

A coalition of more than 100 women’s organisations wrote to ministers to say they had been “alarmed in recent weeks by an increase in unfounded claims made by people in power, and repeated in the media, that hold particular groups as primarily responsible for sexual violence”.

They added: “This not only undermines genuine concerns about women’s safety, but also reinforces the damaging myth that the greatest risk of gender-based violence comes from strangers.”