We recently published an asylum seeker’s account of the 21 July demonstration outside a hotel in Diss. The hotel has been housing asylum-seeking families, including women and children, for two years. That demonstration was triggered by news of Home Office plans to move the families out and replace them with single males. On behalf of East Anglia Bylines I rang round to find out more.
The Diss Park Hotel Community Action Group (DPHCAG) has around 1200 members on Facebook – one measure of local concern. DPHCAG sees the plan to house only single migrant men in the hotel as “a threat to the town’s safety, businesses, and harmony”, and it demands that the Home Office reverse the decision. The Facebook page, like many community group pages, is now private.
Its administrator is former West Ham United midfielder Luke Umfreville. He declined my request for an interview about the hotel situation, but we remain interested in hearing from DPHCAG.
Members of Diss Amnesty and Diss Town of Sanctuary were more forthcoming. They gave an account of the events of 21 July. The anti-migrant protestors were on one side of Park Road, and their own smaller counter-demonstration, together with a third organisation, Stand Up To Racism, stood outside the Park Hotel.
What happened?
I was given different estimates of numbers by those present. Counter-demonstrator Helaine estimated there were about 150 anti-migrant protestors and about 30 counter-demonstrators, while a member of Diss Amnesty put the number at 100 protestors and around 40 counter-demonstrators. Helaine told me, “I’ve never seen so many people with these awful, contorted faces … They were shouting ‘Refugees, go home!’ and ‘Get rid of them!’ and ‘Paedos!’
“We’re all rather shaken because we’re a small market town, and we just don’t have aggro like that.” In response to their aggressive and intimidating shouting, the counter-demonstrators used a loudspeaker system to chant “Refugees are welcome here!”
Placards were displayed by both sides: “Stop the boats” on the protestors’ side, and “Refugees welcome” on the counter-demonstrators’.
Teri of Diss Town of Sanctuary described how the protestors crossed the road, snatched an 80-year-old woman’s placard, tore it up, and threw it to the ground. “They harangued us … jeering and harassing and intimidating … We would have been prepared to speak with them, but they clearly didn’t want to listen,” she said. “The only thing to do [was] to walk off,” which brought cheers from the anti-migrant protesters.
A Diss Amnesty member explained that a young man in a suit wanted to interview them, and asked “Did they believe in citizenry? Would they take refugees into their own homes?”
There were three police officers attending.
What was the aim of the counter-demo?
According to one of the members of Diss Amnesty, the counter-demonstrators had two aims. First, to show that the “Stop the boats” rhetoric was not welcome. Clearly, not all locals are opposed to migrants being in the hotel. This person told me it was clear the anti-migrant protest was being run in the background by far-right groups, not concerned locals.
The second aim was protection: to provide “a bit of a barrier between them and the poor people who were having to listen to all this in the hotel behind us.”
Did you see any common ground with the other side?
I asked people this question in various phrasings. The notice we’d received about the event made it clear that the pro-migrant lobby was as unhappy as anybody with the government’s instruction. Might this discontent with how the changes were being made give any basis for discussion with the anti-migrant protestors?
An Amnesty member confirmed that while discussion was possible within the Diss community, those on the opposite side of the road that evening were clearly not there for discussion. The majority were there to shout abuse at those on the street and those in the hotel, and to intimidate. Helaine agreed: “They hadn’t come there to discuss anything – just to shout and be aggressive.”
How many people on either side were from outside Diss?
Teri, who lives three miles away, recognised very few people as neighbours or as local people from Diss. “A man came up to me with a microphone and shoved it in my face. I said, ‘Well, where do you live?’ And he said, ‘That’s not relevant.’ I said, ‘It is relevant if you’re representing the Diss community.’ It turns out he’s from Lincolnshire.” The general feeling was that the large majority were not local.
What are their plans now?
Diss residents are keeping in touch with their MPs and district councillors while awaiting the final decision from the Home Office on whether to change the residents in Park Hotel. Teri said “If single men move in, we would try to work with them to help them integrate into the community.” An Amnesty member hoped to engage more with the people of Diss and the area to promote understanding about who seeks asylum and why. “The focus needs to shift from the people who are seeking asylum to the asylum process as a whole.” Amnesty is seeking to promote changes in government policy and action to improve the situation.
According to Helaine, the anti-migrant protestors had been planning to come every Sunday and party outside the hotel. But apparently, as long as the single men don’t come and the hotel residents are families, they will not do so.
“The families have enriched the town,” Helaine told me, “and they’ve integrated the kids at school. It’s really nice in the park in the evening, because they’ve been stuck in the hotel all day and they come out then. People are watching telly in the evening, and our park is filled with the people from the hotel, enjoying the place.”
After the 21 July demonstrations, the Park Hotel declared that it did not wish to accommodate single male asylum seekers, and would rather close than be forced to make such a change. A statement on Diss Town Council’s homepage, still in place at the time of writing, explains the council’s opposition to “the sudden reconfiguration of the Park Hotel into a site for single adult males. We support asylum seekers – and have seen families thrive at the hotel with strong local support. But this proposed change is not right for Diss.”
The Home Office wrote to South Norfolk council more recently reiterating its intention of going ahead with the planned change. On 7 August, the South Norfolk and Broadland district councils announced their intention to oppose the move by the use of planning powers.
And demonstrations have continued nationwide outside hotels housing asylum seekers. On 11 August, the Guardian reported that a coalition of organisations had signed an open letter to Britain’s political leaders, concerned at the currents of racism and hatred that have been present in these demos.
Disclosure. Aidan Baker is active in Cambridge City of Sanctuary Faiths Stream
