UK police urged to protect mosques ahead of far-right rallies

Police in the UK have been asked to increase protection for mosques amid fears they could be targeted by the far right. (AFP/File)

• Mosques targeted after false information online blamed stabbing of 3 children on Muslim asylum-seeker
• Tell Mama director: ‘We ask communities to keep calm, look out for each other and to remain vigilant’

LONDON: Police in the UK have been asked to increase protection for mosques amid fears they could be targeted by the far right.
It comes after mosques were targeted by mobs in Southport and Hartlepool in the north of England earlier this week, and violence flared in other cities across the country.
The violence broke out after three children were stabbed to death in Southport on Monday. Information circulated online falsely claimed that the perpetrator had been a Muslim asylum-seeker.
He was later identified by a court on Thursday as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, born in Wales to Rwandan parents.
The judge hearing the case, Andrew Menary KC, said reporting restrictions on Rudakubana’s identity due to his age should be lifted to stop people “who are up to mischief to continue to spread disinformation in a vacuum.”
However, fears abound in communities across the country that the spread of misinformation has already gone too far, putting more mosques, as well as asylum-seekers, at further risk.
Iman Atta, director of Tell Mama, an organization that studies Islamophobia in the UK, told The Guardian: “We absolutely need to see the police organize and step up their patrols around mosques and asylum-seeker accommodation.
“It would be good to see neighborhood teams change their patrol times to provide additional reassurance to the communities.”
Subsequent demonstrations in Manchester and Aldershot saw migrant accommodation targeted by protesters holding signs saying “deport them, don’t support them” and “no apartments for illegals.”
Meanwhile, in London at least 110 people were arrested after flares were thrown at a protest near Downing Street.
Shaukat Warraich, a director at Mosque Security, told The Guardian that his company had been contacted by numerous people in recent days for advice, and that its online security recommendations had been downloaded by “hundreds” due to “the false anti-Muslim narrative being peddled following the Southport murders.”
The Guardian also reported that it believes 19 far-right rallies will take place in the coming days across England, with counter-demonstrations also planned in London and Liverpool.
Atta told the newspaper: “Last week has demonstrated how the far right can organize online and promote hate and misinformation toward Muslim communities, refugees and asylum-seekers. We ask communities to keep calm, look out for each other and to remain vigilant.”
Nahella Ashraf, of Stand Up to Racism Manchester, said: “Before the election, with all the attacks on asylum-seekers, it’s not surprising we’re seeing this unleashed.
“We’ve had years where people are feeling angry and neglected and the cost of living crisis feeds into it. It’s the climate the politicians have set.”