UK anti-migrant protesters block roads after boat arrival
The British government has condemned as “thuggish” a demonstration in the southern English city of Portsmouth after asylum seekers arrived on the coast by small boat. Hundreds of protesters blocked roads on Sunday night and vowed to prevent the migrants from leaving the city, marking the second major anti-migrant demonstration in Britain over the weekend. The previous day, large crowds of masked men had blocked access to the Port of Dover. The UK Home Office said it condemned the intimidating behaviour witnessed in Portsmouth, while stressing that although peaceful protest was a fundamental right, it must not lead to disorder. Footage shared on social media showed protesters, many dressed in black with their faces covered, confronting police officers who were carrying riot shields. The officers formed a security cordon around buses waiting to transport the asylum seekers to a processing centre. Officials said the migrants were eventually transported successfully. French authorities had earlier reported that a vessel carrying 140 people departed Baie de Seine in Normandy and headed towards England’s southern coast.
Small boat arrivals in Hampshire, where Portsmouth is located, are considered extremely rare, as most vessels typically arrive further east in Kent, where the English Channel crossing between the French and British coasts is shorter. Local Conservative lawmaker Joe Robertson described the development as concerning and questioned whether people smugglers were using new routes involving larger boats. Britain has faced continued pressure over dangerous Channel crossings, with tens of thousands of asylum seekers arriving annually on the shores of southeast England in recent years. The issue has also contributed to increased support for the hard-right Reform UK party. The Home Office said last week that the number of small boat crossings recorded in August had fallen to its lowest level since records began in 2018, while migrant arrivals were also at their lowest level since 2020. However, authorities have reported in recent months that more passengers are travelling on individual boats. Home Office data shows that 16,513 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats since the beginning of the year. The government
data also indicates that these crossings represent only a small fraction of people seeking to move to Britain, with the majority arriving through legal routes.
#UTVAfrica#
