British police on Sunday charged a 19-year-old man with violent disorder and assault in connection with a protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in north-west England.
British police on Sunday charged a 19-year-old man with violent disorder and assault in connection with a protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in north-west England. Police said an initially peaceful protest outside the Suites Hotel in Knowsley, near Liverpool, turned violent on Friday when some protesters threw projectiles, including firecrackers, at police and attacked a police van with hammers before setting it on fire .
Jarad Skeete, 19, was arrested along with 14 other people at the protest. Skeete, charged with violent disorder and assaulting an ambulance worker, has been taken into custody and is due to appear in court on Monday.
Police said the incident left one officer and two members of the public with minor injuries. Opposition Labor MP Lisa Nandy has criticized the government for creating a "toxic" mix of anti-immigrant rhetoric and poor housing for asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their applications. “If you blame a government that talks about things like an 'invasion' in terms of immigration, you have a perfect storm, a really toxic mix that ensues.
Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said the UK Conservative Government condemned the violence and was working to stop "the overuse of hotels" to house migrants. The UK is taking fewer asylum seekers than some of its European neighbors, including France and Germany, but is seeing a sharp increase in the number of people trying to get to the UK.Crossing the English Channel in boats and other small vehicles.
More than 45,000 people arrived in the UK via this route in 2022. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said stopping small boat crossings is one of his top priorities. Meanwhile, dozens of migrants have had to wait months or longer for a decision on their asylum claims, many stuck in hotels or other inadequate temporary accommodation. It was not the first time that a center for migrants had been the target of violence.
In October, an attacker burned down a processing center for new arrivals at Dover's Channel Port. Police said the man was motivated by far-right ideology. He committed suicide after the attack.