Abuse of suspected migrants not an ‘innocent mistake’, says UK equality campaigner
source: The Guardian
published: 13 August 2025
Image Credit: Alberto Lugli at www.FreeRangeStock.com
The vitriol faced by scouts and charity rowers mistaken for migrants was not an “innocent mistake”, a race equality campaigner has said, as she warned that toxic rhetoric could lead to more vigilantism and violence.
A wave of anti-migrant protests outside asylum hotels in recent weeks has been followed by growing reports of vigilantism, with people facing abuse after being mistaken for migrants.
Police have launched an investigation into an incident at a scout camp in Wales, where children were allegedly filmed and subjected to racial abuse amid unfounded speculation the site was being used to house immigrants.
Last week, Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe – formerly of Reform UK, now an independent – was accused of being part of a vigilante effort after he reported a charity rowing crew he mistakenly thought were possible “illegal migrants”.
“We’re in a really dangerous situation and the government really needs to step up to the challenge,” said Dr Shabna Begum, the chief executive of the Runnymede Trust.
“We’re in quite a desperate place of despair and gloom, and that breeds the division and type of activity that we’re seeing.
“We are looking at a really bleak future where, if the government doesn’t address some of the deep-seated inequalities in the country, we are likely to see more of these vigilante groups, which just breed more violence.”
Reports of a vigilante group in Bournemouth have been met with alarm. More than 200 residents have supposedly signed up to Safeguard Force, which claims it will carry out uniformed patrols in the seaside town to protect “women, children and the elderly”.
Begum said this type of behaviour had been triggered by a “breakdown of the social contract” and a failure of politicians to deal with economic deprivation.
“We know that vigilantism is not regulated, it’s not rational, it is an emotional reaction to a situation where people are feeling desperate and are feeling let down and are feeling angry,” she said.
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