Tower Hamlets residents have defended the decision to use a hotel in Canary Wharf as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers, following a series of protests over the past two months.
More than four separate displays of violent protest have occurred outside the Britannia International Hotel, following the release of a Tower Hamlets Council statement confirming it would be used to house asylum seekers, resulting in the issuance of a 28-day clearance order by the Metropolitan Police.
Far-right protestors have emphasised economic impacts, safety, and resource allocation as primary motivations for demonstrations outside migrant hotels.
However, the reaction from Canary Wharf residents to the protests and the use of hotel to house asylum seekers, was much more supportive than the protests would suggest.
Hamza Mashkoor, 54, an Uber driver who has lived in Poplar for the last 18 years, said: “I feel indifferent to the hotel being used this way.
“The main thing that people need to understand is that these people are not coming here by choice. They are risking death to come here. They lose their jobs, their families, their homes.
“A lot of people who come to these protests say this is not their problem, that they should not have to deal with the effects of wars abroad, but to me – that is a selfish view – it is not moral. It is not right. We should be kinder.”
Suha Faisal, 25, an attendee at a counter-protest outside the Britannia International, said: “I think there’s a huge misconception in the ‘Take Back/Protect our Streets’ narrative that we keep seeing. The idea that immigrants make our streets less safe is being used as a scapegoat.
“Tower Hamlets is incredibly diverse – it has the largest Bangladeshi diaspora population in Europe, it is easily one of the most diverse, most tolerant boroughs in London. Migrants do not make our streets unsafe, they do not make Canary Wharf unsafe.
“A lot of people coming to these protests are not from Tower Hamlets. I absolutely do not think this is a reflection of the local community.
“I honestly think it’s a result of the disgusting far-right rhetoric we are seeing against asylum-seekers, against refugees, and against people of colour.”
Tower Hamlets bears the highest level of child poverty in London and the question of whether government resources should be used for asylum seekers has formed a central part of the debate surrounding Britannia International.
Injeel Abdul-Aziz, 24, a graduate student living in Tower Hamlets said: “You must see it’s a false binary. The resources used to aid asylum seekers and the resources used to alleviate child poverty are completely different.
“Tommy Robinson, the EDL, Reform – they conflate these issues like we can either support migrants or British children. But it doesn’t have to be one or the other. It can be both.
“Ignoring the protests outside migrant hotels is not productive. It is a signal we need to enter new, real discussions on how British resources should be allocated to best help all vulnerable people in this country.”
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