Scared asylum seekers plead 'we just want to be safe' after riot outside hotel
The asylum seekers left terrified during a riot in Merseyside have pleaded: “We just want to be safe.”
One man from Afghanistan told volunteers trying to help them: “I wasn’t safe in my country and I’m not safe here.”
Violence exploded on Saturday night outside a hotel which is believed to house up to 200 asylum seekers in Knowsley.
During the chaos a police van was set alight and officers had to call in reinforcements to make 15 arrests.
The trouble erupted at a rally against refugees and a counter-protest by pro-migrant groups took place near the Suites Hotel, Knowsley.
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Police said missiles were thrown at officers but there were no injuries.
Clare Moseley, founder of refugee charity Care4Calais, told the BBC she had been part of a counter-protest to support migrants and described it as a “war zone”.
Police in riot gear after the demonstration on Saturday night (PA)She said she was "deeply shocked and shaken" after far right protesters broke through police lines to surround the hotel at 8.15pm.
She said: "The far-right people were very organised and very violent."
She added that counter protesters had been "barricaded in a car park".
"We were stuck there for ages, whilst the police were fighting in different areas.
"I was really frightened for us, I was really frightened for the people in the hotel.
These are people who have come from war zones. I can't imagine how terrifying it would be for them."
Police outside the Suites Hotel (PA)In an update, Care 4 Calais, tweeted on Sunday: “Yesterday we went back to the hotel in Knowsley to visit the asylum seekers to see if they were okay.
“The mood was muted. People were naturally disturbed. The most common things we heard were; ‘We just want to be safe, we haven’t done anything wrong’ and ‘please, can you help us move to another town?”
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On Sunday the international development minister, Andrew Mitchell, said the violent scenes in Merseyside on Friday night were “completely unacceptable” and the government “condemns it absolutely”.
The government has been condemned for the use of “dehumanising” language to describe people seeking refuge in the UK.
Knowsley MP Sir George Howarth called for calm and added: "Those demonstrating against refugees at this protest tonight do not represent this community."
During the chaos on Saturday night a police van was set alight and officers had to call in reinforcements to make 15 arrests (PA)Care4Calais told how the refugees feel “trapped in that hotel” adding: “ They can’t leave. They can’t go to the shop to buy a snack or cigarettes. So many told us they can’t sleep.
“The situation is overwhelmingly sad. Every person in that hotel has had to leave their homes and their loved ones behind because of situations that they cannot control and did not ask for. No one does that by choice.
“We met people from Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Iraq – these are some of the most dangerous places in the world.
“Their homes have been bombed, villages ransacked. Their children have been persecuted. Some have been horribly tortured.
“They came here to ask for our help, believing the UK to be a place of sanctuary. And they have been met with hostility and fear.”
They said they did not know the “actions of one person that have offended the local community” but said that was for the police to determine.
Merseyside Police said officers in Prescot had dealt with two groups of protesters (PA)“But we do know that the actions of one should not lead to the judgement of many,” they added.
Care4Calais added: “We sat and chatted to them for around two hours. Overwhelmingly they were calm and gentle.
“Given all that they have been through and suffered in their home countries they are fatalistic and forgiving.
“They understood the position of the local community and all they wanted was reconciliation. And to finally feel safe.”
On Sunday, a 19-year-old man, Jarad Skeete, from the Aigburth suburb of Liverpool, was charged with violent disorder and assault by beating of an emergency worker.
He will appear at Wirral adult remand court today (Monday), while the other 14 people who were arrested, all aged between 13 and 54, have been released on bail.
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