The abuse received by staff at refugee charities is varied: every so often there are death threats, sometimes accusations of treason, usually racist slurs. The only thing that has become predictable is the timing.
Charity workers told openDemocracy they had identified multiple occasions where inflammatory comments by ministers and MPs triggered a deluge of hate towards them. The remarks, blaming charities and human rights lawyers for delays in the asylum system, have led to staff having their addresses made public and being harassed in the street.
Now, with Rishi Sunak staking his premiership on the most hardline immigration policy in decades, charities fear that increasing hostility from the government could place them in danger.
