These hotels were targeted by a protest last weekend that led to five people being arrested and two officers suffering minor injuries. A group of masked men allegedly tried to enter the Crowne Plaza hotel through the rear entrance and damaged security fences. Around 500 protesters clad in flags marched to the site, where more demonstrations are expected on 13 and 20 September.
When The i Paper visited the area this week, some fencing remained damaged. The St George’s Cross was painted on parts of the security hoarding that surrounds the Crowne Plaza, but a message of peace was also spray-painted alongside it: “Love your neighbour. English decency. English fairness. English progressiveness.” Underneath the white paint were the faint outlines of the words “stop the boats”.
@theipaper“I’ve got nine kids and I’m worried for every single one of them” says 52-year-old ex-court officer Justin. Locals in Hillingdon shared their thoughts on asylum hotels and England flags amid anti-migrant protests in the area. Richard, who works locally, said “I don’t like the flags being on display like that. I think that that’s getting very dangerous in terms of, you know, nationalism and xenophobia”. #politics #ukpolitics
♬ Curious – Healing And Spirit Health & DJ HoobidibbieWhile some locals said they had concerns about the use of hotels, others said they were alarmed by the demonisation of migrants and xenophobia they felt flags were being used to convey.
He said he will be attending the protest on the 13th to “help the English voice be heard”, adding: “We’ve become a minority in our own country and we should be treated all as equals.”
Justin Jones said there are “far too many people” coming to the UK (Photo: Robbie Hawken/The i Paper)
He said he also feels that migrants pose a threat to the safety of his children. “I am worried,” he said, choking up. “I’ve got nine kids and I’m worried for every single one of them. It absolutely petrifies me.”
Mr Jones, a former court officer who is no longer able to work after sustaining an injury, said he wants to see the hotels close and illegal immigration reduced. He questioned why migrants were coming to England instead of staying in France, which is also a safe country with “more space”. He said the flags are “patriotic” and show pride in England.
Andrea, a 36-year-old store manager and Romanian immigrant, said she is not “against” asylum seekers but thinks they should be given a limited timeframe to get their claim approved and if they do not, they should be sent back to their home countries.
Flags of England hang from lamp posts as a Union Jack hangs from a tree near the Crowne Plaza hotel (Photo: Hannah McKay/Reuters)“I don’t get any benefits. I’m working full time. My daughter is in childcare, so everything I’m earning I’m paying for childcare services. For me to pay more than £1,000 every month in tax just for them to sit in a hotel is not fair.”
Dr Awad, a retired doctor who moved to the UK 35 years ago from Egypt, said the root causes of asylum claims need to be addressed. A lot of people are here because of political problems in their own countries that Western countries are contributing to, he said.
A flag pasted on a sign on the road leading to the Crowne Plaza hotel (Photo: Robbie Hawken/The i Paper)His friend Yassev Elbolty, 45, who also moved to Britain from Egypt and works at Heathrow Airport, agreed. “They are putting my tax money up every year,” he chimed in. “We are paying tax and more national insurance for these people. Make it easy for them to get a job.”
“Read history, see what happened in Nazi Germany,” he said. “It started something like [this] – a little thing then escalates and becomes a national problem.”
‘Migrants are scapegoats’
“I don’t like the flags being on display like that,” he said. “I think that that’s getting very dangerous in terms of nationalism and xenophobia.”
Richard Powell said he does not like the use of the flags (Photo: Robbie Hawken/The i Paper)
“Some of these people can be very valuable and useful to the UK,” he said. “In some cases, they’ve got good qualifications in some areas, and they can perhaps be valuable to the UK in terms of the work that they can do and the economic benefits that they can perhaps bring.”
Originally from Ireland, he said he knows the power of flags and finds their erection in the area “not very comfortable”. “Every country should celebrate their heritage and everything,” he said, “but for me, there’s something a lot more sinister about it.”
He said the English flag should be a “source of pride” for everyone, but added: “We’re not going to allow that identity to be stolen and associated with absolute extremists and thugs.”
Flags hang on lamp posts along the high street (Photo: Alexa Phillips/The i Paper)
The council is waiting to see the outcome of Epping Forest District Council’s Supreme Court appeal before deciding whether it can take similar legal action to stop the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.
During the pandemic, the hotels around Heathrow airport were underused because of travel restrictions, which led to hotel owners signing deals with the Home Office.
“We have much wider concerns across our communities about the uncontrolled nature of immigration and the way that is impacting on the country, and in particular on our borough.”
Extra costs borne by the council
A recent inspection of the hotels referred dozens of young people to the local authority, which then had to pay to assess whether they were children who needed to be placed in the care system. Most were sent back hotels because they were over 18 but the costs of the process were still borne by Hillingdon Council.
Men tried to break into the Crowne Plaza hotel, where migrants are housed (Photo: Robbie Hawken/The i Paper)After last weekend’s protest, he said the council is taking additional measures to prevent violence. The council is working with law enforcement to make sure the upcoming protests are “properly policed” and to identify “known agitators” from the recent protests. The council is looking into whether “civil powers” could be used to ban people from the borough.
Asylum seekers are ‘very scared’
Maryam Kanwer, a former asylum seeker who now volunteers with Care4Calais to help those in the Hillingdon hotels, said they have been “very scared” since the protests. She said protesters outside the hotels were “harassing” and “intimidating” them.
She said most people have become afraid of leaving the hotel and are staying inside. Two teenage girls in one of the hotels recently told her their mother would not let them go out even for groceries.
Maryam Kanwer volunteers with a charity that helps asylum seekers in Hillingdon (Photo: Robbie Hawken/The i Paper)“A flag is fine, but now we know the intention of the flags,” she said. “It seems like an organised movement. I definitely feel scared, especially when I go to work. I feel scared, especially… near the Tube lines. I try to be at a distance from the train lines.”
“So many people, especially the young men, they come to me and they want to work,” she said. “They say, ‘Please, sister, find us work.’ But they are not allowed to work.”
“They have been facing violence, persecution, torture – all kind of challenges,” she said. “They come here to seek safety and protection, which is a very basic human right.”
A government spokesperson said it inherited an asylum system in “chaos” and has taken “urgent action” over the past year to fix it, doubling the rate of asylum decision-making and reducing the amount of money spent on asylum hotels by almost a billion pounds.
They added: “We will continue to work closely with community partners across the country, and discuss any concerns they have, as we look to fix this broken system together and close every hotel by the end of this Parliament.”
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