UK to face more racial violence?
Over the next twenty years, the UK may have to build a new house every five minutes, according to a British immigration watchdog. Meanwhile, amid a wave of racial attacks, support for right-wing groups is increasing.
Greenwich Islamic Centre, a South London mosque, regularly welcomes thousands of worshippers every week. Its community comes from all over the world. But more recently it’s been the scene of a different type of activity – arson.
Mosque caretaker Mohammed Kohelee heard a noise late one night, and discovered the building on fire. Worshippers suspect far-right nationalists.
“Mohammed tried to put the fire off by throwing buckets of water,” says the center’s director Dr Tariq Abassi. “They want to damage this place for some reason or another. They’re not happy that we’ve got a mosque among them. But they don’t realize, we’re only doing like churches or all the other synagogues – we are only praying to, we hope, the same god.”
Sociologists fear that rising numbers of immigrants in the UK will lead to an upsurge in violence such as this.
The mosque has been attacked three times, and on the last occasion, Mr Kohelee was hit with a hammer. The centre director says nothing was done about the previous attacks, and although Greenwich police say they have put their best men on the case, so far, no arrests have been made.
The number of British passports issued to migrants is set to hit record levels this year. In the first three months of 2009, 57 per cent more applications were approved than in the same period last year.
Think-tank Migrationwatch is concerned about the pressure this will put on UK resources.
“Our concern is the impact of immigration on population. At present levels, our population will increase by about ten million in the next twenty years. And seven million of that will be due to immigration. That’s going to add hugely to the housing requirement – we’re going to have to build a house every five minutes, day and night, for the next twenty years, for new immigrants,” says Migrationwatch chairman, Sir Andrew Green.
The organization says 80 per cent of the UK population wants to see a very sharp cut in immigration. That could account for the recent rise in popularity of political parties that support closing the doors on immigrants. The British National Party – BNP – is one of them.
“Our government wants us to celebrate the fact that we are being disenfranchised and replaced in our own country, which is absolutely ludicrous. But it is unfortunately true that unless the British people do wake up very quickly, they are in serious trouble,” believes BNP Deputy Chairman Simon Darby.
Earlier this week, an infamous refugee camp in Calais was cleared in an attempt to disrupt illegal immigration into the UK. “The Jungle” was home to around 1,500 asylum seekers, some of whom will be returned to the country from which they entered the European Union. Many, however, headed to neighboring ports which also serve the UK.
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