Like many, I’ve watched the footage of people protesting outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, being used to house asylum seekers. The hotel is less than an hour away from where I grew up.
Locals waved signs, chanted about ‘protecting our communities’ and keeping ‘England for the English’. The St George Cross has also been weaponised to cause division. Signalling to non-white people that ‘you don’t belong here’.
Seeking asylum is not illegal. It is a human right, which is protected by the 1951 Refugee Convention – something the UK helped to write.
People claiming asylum are mostly fleeing war, persecution or oppression. They don’t come here because it’s easy. They come here because it is their only option.
Many of the people being protested against are survivors – of torture, of conflict and of trauma. They’re in limbo, often for months or years, unable to work and isolated from society. And now, they’re being shouted at outside their windows, in a country where they thought they would be safe.
I understand that people have concerns, however we need to be honest about where those concerns are coming from.
Are they rooted in reality, or has media headlines using words like ‘invasion’ and ‘swarm’ and years of austerity created a climate where blaming ‘outsiders’ is easier than acknowledging the issues and fixing a broken system?
The truth is that the UK takes in fewer asylum seekers than many other European countries and most asylum seekers are not allowed to work. They aren’t given ipads and phones like Rylan ignorantly claimed on This Morning.
We saw the damage of misinformation last year, during the summer race riots, and we need to do better. The London protest on Saturday was another unsettling reminder of how fear and false narratives can boil over – I’m still making sense of it, and will write more when I’ve had the head space to process what happened.
Image taken of a bus stop in Hastings
I understand that some have genuine concerns about change, lack of resources and feeling ignored by those in power. But fear must not excuse cruelty.
As a British Asian, I understand how damaging stereotypes can be and what it feels like to be ‘othered’.
We have a choice. We can be a country that greets desperate people with hostility – or one that meets them with dignity. We can either be part of the mob at the gates, or part of the community that welcomes, listens and helps people rebuild.
What can we do?
- Call out misinformation when you see it – both online or offline.
- Support charities helping asylum seekers like Refugee Council or Asylum Welcome
- Write to your MP to demand a fairer, more humane asylum system.
- Have conversations – even uncomfortable ones, within your own community.
We all deserve safety, dignity and a future. Asylum seekers are no different.
