A charity which works with immigration lawyers has issued a statement addressing far-right attacks on migrants and 'intimidation' towards legal professionals. The Immigration Law Practitioners' Association (ILPA) is a professional association and registered charity, supporting barristers, solicitors and advisers who deal with all aspects of immigration, asylum and nationality law. In the past week, incidents of vandalism, violence and looting have taken place across the country, with cars and buildings being burnt, projectiles, fireworks, bricks and missiles being thrown and police officers reporting injuries.
Far-right rioters, fuelled by anti-immigration sentiment, have targeted mosques, homes, businesses and hotels providing accommodation for migrants. The attacks come in the wake of the fatal stabbings of three young girls in Southport where 17-year-old Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, from Lancashire, has been charged in connection with the attack. However, false claims spread on social media that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat.
Hundreds of far-right demonstrators took to the streets, chanting 'Enough is enough' and 'Save our children' while targeting migrants and Muslim communities. Social media footage shows the 'thugs' used racist terminology, and some made Nazi salutes and set places on fire while looting from town centre shops. A hotel that provides shelter for asylum seekers near Failsworth on Oldham Road, Newton Heath, was one of the pl.