The UK is the site of anti-immigrant race riots this week, and people of color in the country are on edge.
The riots were sparked by the killing of three girls in Southport in northern England. On July 29, three girls, between six and nine years old, were stabbed and killed during a Taylor Swift-themed dance event for children. Eight other children and two adults were injured.
Police then arrested a 17-year old man, and a disinformation campaign on social media alleged that the suspect was a Muslim migrant (the suspect was revealed to be born in Britain to Christian Rwandan parents). The suspect has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder.
After the killing, right-wing rioters started attacking visible Muslims and other people of color. On July 30, a day after the stabbing, hundreds of right-wing locals flooded the area around Southport Mosque in the city. The mob hurled bricks at the mosque, attempting to break down the front door, and destroyed its front wall. The mob chanted various Islamophobic phrases like “F*** Muslims.”
The disinformation campaign is partially to blame for the rising violence against Muslims and people of color, but there is a larger issue in the UK of anti-immigrant and far-right rhetoric. Tommy Robinson, what Al Jazeera calls a “far-right agitator” said in a video posted to his X account, “There’s more evidence to suggest Islam is a mental health issue rather than a religion of peace. They’re replacing the British nation with hostile, violent, aggressive migrants…Your children don’t matter to [the Labour government].” Andrew Tate said in an X video that “‘an undocumented migrant’ who had ‘arrived on a boat’ had attacked the girls in Southport.”
Riots have spread across the majority of the UK, including Wales and Northern Ireland. The majority of the violence though has taken place in cities and towns in England. More than 400 people have been arrested since the violent riots started. Right wing mobs have attacked mosques, libraries, shops, and hotels that are housing asylum-seekers.
Al Jazeera reports that Muslims have faced the majority of the attacks, but other people of color, Black Britons and immigrants, have also been targeted. Muslim shopkeepers have had their shops looted, attacked, and destroyed. In Northern Ireland, a Syrian supermarket was attacked by rioters in Belfast. An employee, Bashir, tells his story to Middle East Eye: “Around 11 pm, one my friends gave me call and said your shop is burning, please come. After a minute, six men who were masked attacked me. They came out of nowhere and they tried to stab me. I almost got killed. For what? For nothing. Something I didn’t do.”
After days of violent rioting, anti-racist protests are stirring up hope amidst violence. In London, anti-immigrant rioters were met with hundreds of counter protesters carrying signs that said “Racists Out, Refugees In,” and “Refugees Welcome.” Although these riots and mobbing signal more tensions in the future for the UK, knowing that there are people who defend Muslims and other British people of color is a sign that there are people who care about all aspects of humanity, not based on an im
