EPPING, Essex, England: Hundreds of demonstrators from rival groups marched through a UK town on Sunday under tight police security amid tensions over anti-immigrant protests.
It was the latest in a series of demonstrations in Epping, northeast of London, after an asylum seeker was charged earlier in July with three counts of sexual assault, including allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
But only about 400 people from rival groups demonstrated in the town, as police put in place a tight security operation, erecting barricades to keep them apart and banning the wearing of masks.
Essex police said they had “a robust policing operation in place to protect our community and to deal swiftly with anyone intent on causing crime or violent disorder”.
Protestors gathered outside the Bell Hotel in the town, which has been used to house asylum seekers and refugees, despite pleas from the local council to close it down.
“They’re a threat. They don’t know who they are, who they’re allowing in these hotels, and basically, they’re putting everybody at danger”, one protester, who identified herself only as Cathy, told AFP.
There was also a counter-protest by the organisation, Stand Up to Racism, who chanted “refugees are welcome here” and “Whose streets? Our streets”.
Three people were arrested Sunday, but the protest went off “peacefully”, Essex police said in a statement.
The issue of thousands of irregular migrants arriving in small boats across the Channel, coupled with the UK’s worsening economy, has triggered rising anger among some Britons.
Such sentiments have been amplified by inflammatory messaging on social networks, fuelled by far-right activists. – AFP
