In recent weeks, protests have intensified outside student halls on Don Street, near the University of Aberdeen.
The halls have been repurposed to house up to 166 asylum seekers.
Protests have been held outside hotels in Scotland and the rest of the UK for several months (Image: NQ)
In a letter to Aberdeen City Council’s chief executive Angela Scott, Labour councillor Deena Tissera called on the local authority to take down Union and Saltire flags across the city, warning they have become ‘symbols of hostility and division’.
She said: “These flags are not expressions of civic pride – they are being used by certain groups to intimidate immigrants and asylum seekers who have come to our city seeking safety and a better life.
Tissera added: “I would also like to formally invite you to join me on a visit to Don Street to witness firsthand the current situation, particularly the ongoing ‘reclaim the night’ demonstrations, which have clearly taken an anti-immigrant tone.”
In clips posted to social media last week, members of the Aberdeen Against Illegal Migration (AAIM) group were pictured outside the block of flats.
Holding megaphones and draped in Union flags, the men shouted phrases including ‘Christ is King’ and ‘Whose streets? Our streets’ in the direction of the building.
The group also shouted ‘She was nine’; a reference to the age of the prophet Muhammad’s third wife Aisha according to Islamic tradition.
Writing on Facebook, AAIM describes its members as “standing up to illegal migration. We want to close our borders, stop illegal migrants flooding our country, we want to protect our women, children & our elderly.”
Tissera, a naturalised British citizen who grew up in Sri Lanka before moving to Scotland for university, said: “Aberdeen must send a clear message that it will not be cowed by intolerance nor allow its public spaces to be used to fuel fear.”
Asked for comment, an Aberdeen City Council spokesperson said that flags would be ‘removed in due course’.
They did not comment on whether the chief executive had accepted Tissera’s invitation.
Speaking in September, Christian Allard, co-leader of the local authority, said that recent protests had frightened many people in the city.
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The SNP councillor said: “Aberdeen has a great tradition of welcoming people fleeing war and persecution.
“Following the recent protests in the city, residents, students, our own staff and asylum seekers are not feeling safe.”
AAIM has been contacted for comment.