British police said on Saturday they had arrested 15 people including a child after fireworks were thrown and a police car set on fire at an anti-immigration demonstration outside a hotel housing asylum seekers near Liverpool.
Merseyside Police said “15 people have so far been arrested for violent disorder” in the Knowsley area of north-west England, after reporting three arrests.
Police said “missiles including fireworks were thrown at officers and one of the police cars was attacked by offenders, using hammers before being set on fire” during clashes outside The Suites Hotel.
One officer and two members of the public sustained injuries, police said.
The protests come amid heightened tensions over the number of migrants crossing the Straits in small boats, prompting the Conservative government to make controversial plans to send the asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Home Affairs Minister Suella Braverman condemned the “appalling disturbance” in a tweet, adding that the “alleged behavior of some asylum seekers is never an excuse for violence and intimidation”.
Police said those arrested ranged in age from 13 to 54, and included two women. They said they are reviewing the footage to identify the other person.
Asylum seeker advocacy groups said the protesters had joined far-right groups, but it was unclear who was behind the violence.
Police said a group that made trouble attacked the protest which another group planned to “carry out violent and despicable acts”.
The Home Office has been using the hotel to house asylum seekers since last year, according to local media.
The violence broke out when anti-immigration protesters crashed a demonstration outside the hotel by activists expressing solidarity with asylum seekers.
Anti-migrant protesters shouted slogans such as “Get out now,” said the Merseyside Pensioners Association, whose activists held placards saying “Refugees welcome”.
Claire Mosely, the founder of the refugee charity Care4Calais, who was also at the scene, told Sky News that the protesters “reached the police van and set it on fire and the fire was really big and it exploded.”
“Then they broke through and they started fighting with the police,” Mosely said. “I was shocked … how quickly it got worse.”
‘swell hate’
The protests were fueled by “rumors and misinformation” on social media after last week’s incident, police said.
A man in his 20s was arrested and released without incident after reports of “inappropriate advances” being made towards a 15-year-old girl in the Knowsley area, police added.
He said the investigation was ongoing and urged witnesses to come forward.
“Violence is not the way to solve this problem and we know that those who engage in violent activities at night use this as an excuse to commit violence and terrorize members of the public,” police said.
Hope Not Hate, a group that campaigns against racism, said the protest was being carried out “in the context of anti-migrant hatred”.
The white nationalist group Patriotic Alternatives denied they were part of the committee, after holding a protest outside the hotel last week and leafleting locally.
However, one campaigner posted a video showing him at the scene on Friday.
“Right-wing groups like Britain First (BF) and Patriotic Alternative (PA) have visited the hotel in recent weeks, although the protests appear to have been largely locally driven, rather than organized by far-right groups outside the region. , “I hope not hate
Chantelle Lunt, chair of the Merseyside Alliance for Racial Equality, tweeted that the protest was taking place in one of the “poorest areas of the UK” where far-right activist Tommy Robinson campaigned in 2019.