 Police had to break up groups of protesters who clashed over the controversial asylum seeker barge docking in Dorset. The football pitch-sized Bibby Stockholm vessel, which will house 500 male asylum seekers, anchored in Portland Port yesterday morning. Two small crowds gathered to demonstrate against the barge – but for different reasons. Stand Up to Racism is against using the barge as accommodation, calling it a 'floating prison', with members holding up 'refugees welcome' placards. On the other side, No to the Barge does not want migrants housed in the area, with several women saying it makes them feel unsafe. Footage shows one woman saying 'I don't feel safe in my own town' before another tells her: 'You're statistically more likely to be raped by someone you know.' A different woman holding a sign that reads 'wakey wakey Portland' then argued no one in the community knows the migrants' background. No to the Barge members said asylum seekers made them feel unsafe (Picture: PA) Some people brought their children to the demonstration (Picture: PA) The Bibby Stockholm is set to eventually house 500 asylum seekers (Picture: PA) Stand Up to Racism could be heard chanting over the debate: 'No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here.' The woman who previously said she felt unsafe responded with 'f**k off' while a police officer talks to both sides. She then shouts: 'They're not asylum seekers, they're illegal immigrants.' Stand Up to Racism Dorset posted an audio clip of a man saying 'when you get raped, I'll laugh my a** off' before a woman replied with 'that's disgusting'. Sammy Gray, 37, told The Guardian: 'We don't know any background of these men. Where's the women, why aren't the children with them? I'm going to have to pick up my 16-year-old daughter from work because I'm scared. 'I will not go out. It's almost putting my kids back into lockdown. I'm petrified){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Police had to break up groups of protesters who clashed over the controversial asylum seeker barge docking in Dorset.
The football pitch-sized Bibby Stockholm vessel, which will house 500 male asylum seekers, anchored in Portland Port yesterday morning.
Two small crowds gathered to demonstrate against the barge – but for different reasons.
Stand Up to Racism is against using the barge as accommodation, calling it a ‘floating prison’, with members holding up ‘refugees welcome’ placards.