The past weeks for migrants, people of colour and Muslims across England and Northern Ireland have felt like a living nightmare, as far right racists assaulted and threatened racialised people, including with acid attacks, burning their cars, damaging mosques, smashing homes and migrant accommodation, and leaving high streets in total disarray.
Despite a flurry of statements of condemnation from migration charities, this is not enough, with migrant voices themselves having been largely missing from the public conversation. I work at the charity Migrants Rights Network, which works with organisations across the UK to enable migrants to speak truth to power on immigration and issues that affect their lives. That’s why we decided to ask migrants, including refugees, in our community for their thoughts on the attacks and how they’ve fared over the past few weeks.
One of the many common threads that came through was that, although this weekend did not see any large-scale riots again, and anti-racist demonstrators came out in force in London and Birmingham among other places – many migrants have retreated indoors, too scared to go outside in case of attacks. Many have bordered up their local shops, while high streets in areas with a high proportion of, have been quieter than usual.
