he United Kingdom has seen a wave of riots caused by far-right racist groups targeting some ethnic minorities. These incidents were provoked by some far-right groups by circulating false claims targeting certain ethnic minorities. It was claimed that a Muslim asylum seeker had attacked and killed children in the neighbourhood. White supremacy, cultural nationalism, nativism, authoritarianism, racism, radical-conservatism and xenophobia are the primary views held by these groups.

The police later clarified that they believe Axel Muganwa Radakubana, a coloured British citizen born in Cardiff to parents from Rwanda, to have been guilty of the crime. He now faces three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder. The attack took place on Monday July 29, in Southport. A Taylor Swift-themed children’s dance and yoga party was held at a community studio. Around a couple of dozen children were attending the event when the criminal rushed in and stabbed three girls named Alice Dasilva (9), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7) and Bebe King (6) who died from their injuries.

Seeing the opportunity, the far-right groups started disseminating misinformation via social media that the killer was as Muslim asylum seeker. This caused panic in the neighbourhood and a frenzy of anger among general public towards immigrants in general and Muslims in particular. The racist groups manipulated the general public and caused riots and street violence. The rioters attacked a mosque in Southport and clashed with the police. A town in north-east England also witnessed violent protests by far-right groups ending in a clash with the police. Around a hundred violent protestors hurled beer cans and flares next to prime minister’s 10 Downing Street residence the following Wednesday.

Prime Minister Kier Starmer condemned the violence. He said: “A community’s grief was hijacked by these far-right protestors.” He also denounced what he called acts of thuggery.

The News on Sunday reached out to several British-Pakistani and other British citizens from various ethnic backgrounds in the UK to get their perspective about the situation, false propaganda and riots stirred by racist groups.

Requesting anonymity, a British-Indian woman entrepreneur said: “The situation is regrettable. It is not the same UK as before. We have decided to move out from the country until the situation settles down.”

Muhammad Firyad, a British-Pakistani gentleman who owns the Firyad Auto Repairs in Slough, London, said: “Alhamdulillah, everything is alright in London. There were some riots and protests in Birmingham, Luton and some other places up north. But here, everything is normal. These incidents of hatred and racism are really sad and disappointing.” He also condemned the killings of three young girls in Southport.

Prime Minister Kier Starmer denounced the violent protests. He said: “A community’s grief was hijacked by these far-right protestors. We denounce such acts of thuggery.”

British-Pakistani Sajid Khan, who lives in West London area of Acton and owns a real estate company, said: “Things are okay in London. We are fine. These protests and riots are happening mainly in the north. We have all the confidence in the government. I am sure they will handle and deal with the situation in a fair and just manner.”

Chief Constable from Southport Mereyside Serena Kennedy, who faced and handled the ferocity of far-right protestors on July 29 along with her officers, said: “The level of violence faced by my officers was horrifying.” The 2024 riots were the worst in UK’s history.

The history of far right violence in UK goes back to 1923 with the formation of British Fascisti by Rotha Lintorn-Orman. Later on in 1960 and 1970, many such groups and organisations were formed such as the British Union of Fascists (BUF), the National Front (NF), the British National Party (BNP) and the British Movement (BM). However, since 1980, a popular term has been used to describe all such groups as English Defense League (EDL). The ideology of such groups is resisting ‘Islamification’ of Britain and opposing immigration from non-White backgrounds. These groups claim to save and preserve British culture, law and lifestyle.

Previous governments, led by Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak had proposed an aggressive policy of deporting all illegal immigrants or asylum seekers to Rwanda. However, after the victory of Keir Starmer and Labour Party in general elections, the policy was scrapped and replaced by Border Security Command.

United Nations Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees Gillian Triggs said: “We completely agree with the United Kingdom government that criminal gangs need to be stopped. We also want to stop people drowning when they are subjected to horrifying risks trying to find international protection. Our point of disagreement is that there are a number of safe and regular alternatives that are infinitely better than shifting the responsibility of shifting immigrants to Rwanda 6,000 kilometers away. We suggest to the government that these immigrants should have access to the territory to allow people seeking asylum and their claim accessed through a fair and fast system. The solution is not in shifting the burden to a country, which - of course, we do not want to criticise but it - had its own struggles and does not have an asylum system for individual claims.”

The UK government must take preventive measures to stop such rhetoric and discrimination against minorities and immigrants by far-right racist groups and devise a workable immigrant or asylum policy. Immigrants have always played a pivotal role towards development and prosperity of British society by living in harmony with British natives.

The writer is a freelance journalist and a travel enthusiast