Campaigners lead chants welcoming refugees to UK
Campaigners led chants welcoming refugees to UK shores in an anti-racism demonstration, amid claims of “growing tensions” in Kent coastal towns due to the so-called migrant crisis.
Kent Anti-Racism Network (KARN) organised the gathering in an overcast Ramsgate on Sunday.
Described as a vigil to welcome refugees to the country, the event attracted a small but vocal group of supporters, and some who contested their views, to the Obelisk monument in the harbour.
It was organised amid concerns for the welfare of migrants attempting to cross the English Channel in small boats, and how KARN claims they are treated and viewed by some when they arrive in the UK.
Overlooking a Border Force cutter and patrol boat moored inside the harbour wall, campaigners, supported by regional Green Party and Labour groups, brandished banners and flags as they shouted: “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here.”
This was met with some heckling by a small handful of people, who disputed the cause and were described by those gathered as “local EDL/BNP supporters”.
Taunts included: “Why are you letting criminals into our country?”
The jeers were met with a retort from supporter Rory Heap, who took the microphone and said: “Those of you who don’t share our views, bugger off and go home,” prompting cheers from the crowd.
A member of the Whitstable Calais Solidarity Group, which offers humanitarian aid to migrants, he was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan No Human Is Illegal.
Bernadette Fisher, a Labour councillor in part of the neighbouring seaside town of Whitstable, told the crowd: “We are all a product of immigration.”
Speaking to the Press Association, she said: “We are our brother’s keeper, I truly believe that in my heart.
“We need to care for these people, they are living in destitution, we just need to help.
“There’s a lot more that could be done – we should have a better relationship with France, we should be doing everything to welcome them.”
Several of the speakers were critical of how the Government had handled the situation, with Ms Fisher describing Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s decision to launch a “major incident” after increased crossings in recent months as an “overreaction”, and calling for a more compassionate approach.
The minor tensions arising from the event illustrated how opinion is divided in Kent coastal towns at the moment, she suggested.
Joe Burman, spokesman for KARN, said news coverage over Christmas had prompted a surge in racist commentary online.
The science lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University added: “That narrative has been completely uncontested so far and that sort of hate speech is not reflective of people in the community.”
He called on the Government to overhaul its foreign policy as a long-term solution.
But he said “people all across the country” could do more straight away to help improve the situation for refugees by providing aid and places to live while the Government “failed” to act.
Donations were collected for not-for-profit organisation Care4Calais, which is providing aid for refugees in northern France.
The event took place days after the country’s interior ministry announced it was tightening up security and stepping up patrols in the “fight” against illegal migrant Channel crossings.
Authorities will now carry out around-the-clock surveillance on French beaches and across the Channel as the UK pledged more money and technology.
This comes as Royal Navy ship HMS Mersey was sent to patrol the Dover Strait.
Of the 504 migrants seeking to cross the English Channel in 2018, 276 managed to get to British waters and coasts, and 228 were intercepted by the French authorities.
Most of the people are Iranian, according to the interior ministry.
