The vitriol faced by scouts and charity rowers mistaken for migrants was not an \u201cinnocent mistake\u201d, a race equality campaigner has said, as she warned that toxic rhetoric could lead to more vigilantism and violence.<\/p>\n
A wave of anti-migrant protests outside asylum hotels in recent weeks has been followed by growing reports of vigilantism, with people facing abuse after being mistaken for migrants.<\/p>\n
Police have launched an investigation into an incident at a scout camp in Wales<\/a>, where children were allegedly filmed and subjected to racial abuse amid unfounded speculation the site was being used to house immigrants.<\/p>\n Last week, Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe \u2013 formerly of Reform UK, now an independent \u2013 was accused of being part of a vigilante effort after he reported a charity rowing crew<\/a> he mistakenly thought were possible \u201cillegal migrants\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in a really dangerous situation and the government really needs to step up to the challenge,\u201d said Dr Shabna Begum, the chief executive of the Runnymede Trust.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in quite a desperate place of despair and gloom, and that breeds the division and type of activity that we\u2019re seeing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are looking at a really bleak future where, if the government doesn\u2019t address some of the deep-seated inequalities in the country, we are likely to see more of these vigilante groups, which just breed more violence.\u201d<\/p>\n Reports of a vigilante group in Bournemouth<\/a> have been met with alarm. More than 200 residents have supposedly signed up to Safeguard Force, which claims it will carry out uniformed patrols in the seaside town to protect \u201cwomen, children and the elderly\u201d.<\/p>\n Begum said this type of behaviour had been triggered by a \u201cbreakdown of the social contract\u201d and a failure of politicians to deal with economic deprivation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that vigilantism is not regulated, it\u2019s not rational, it is an emotional reaction to a situation where people are feeling desperate and are feeling let down and are feeling angry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd this has implications for all people of colour in this country, because people are not checking people\u2019s migrant status or whether they are seeking asylum before they make their conclusions about whether they belong, whether they are going to be subject to hostility and aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n Begum said incidents of people being mistaken for migrants were not \u201cinnocent mistakes\u201d but happened as a result of politicians and the media pursuing an agenda based on \u201cflimsy or false information\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cFor instance, Rupert Lowe has an agenda, he has a particular position on these things \u2026 there are thresholds of accountability and scrutiny and checking that he should have gone through,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think there\u2019s a deliberate disingenuousness around this, because it\u2019s convenient and easy to focus on migrants and stopping boats. It\u2019s much, much harder to really deal with big structural issues around economic inequalities and misogyny.\u201d<\/p>\n The largest anti-migrant protests<\/a> have centred around the Bell hotel in Epping in Essex. On Tuesday, the district council applied for an interim high court injunction in an effort to stop asylum seekers from being housed there.<\/p>\n Oliver Coppard, the Labour mayor of South Yorkshire<\/a>, urged politicians and the media to take a responsible approach over predicting disorder connected to asylum and migration, saying some people were \u201cseemingly trying to will it into existence\u201d.<\/p>\n