Small boat arrivals are apparently being diverted from Dover to Ramsgate in a bid to avoid clashes with protesters, as tensions continue to escalate at asylum seeker hotels across the UK. The Home Office opted to reroute the landings over the weekend in a break with standard protocol, after receiving intelligence about a planned demonstration in Dover.
A total of 153 people were brought ashore in Ramsgate on Saturday after arriving in three dinghies and were processed at the nearby Manston site. The shift away from Dover is highly unusual. For years, the Kent Intake Unit (KIU) in Dover has been the primary location for the initial processing of people arriving across the Channel.
The last major diversion of small boats to Ramsgate occurred in 2022, during the P&O Ferries crisis.
Sources said the change was a direct response to the risk posed by participants in the so-called “Great British National Protest”, some of whom had reportedly discussed targeting KIU.
A flag associated with the white nationalist group Patriotic Alternative was photographed at the demonstration. Its leader, Mark Collett, is a former British National Party official.
The decision reflects wider concerns over the safety of asylum seekers, not just at the point of arrival, but also in accommodation facilities across the country.
Demonstrations by anti-migration activists outside hotels have become increasingly common, often accompanied by intimidation and, in some cases, suspected arson.
More than 1,000 protesters recently gathered outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, one of several sites used to house asylum seekers.
The Guardian reported that the hotel has faced repeated threats and was evacuated earlier this year following a suspected arson attack. One former resident said those still inside were “very, very scared”.
Louise Calvey, executive director of the charity Asylum Matters, condemned the need to reroute arrivals as “shameful” but welcomed the Government’s precautionary action.
She said: “It is shameful that as a country, refugees have to be protected from extremist demonstrations. They have already been through a living hell. It’s positive that the government took proactive steps on Saturday to protect people but a shame on all of us that this was necessary.”
The Home Office declined to outline the reasons for using Ramsgate rather than Dover for the landings.
The diversion of boats came on the same day the UK imposed its first-ever sanctions on individuals and entities involved in people-smuggling, including gang leaders, middlemen, hawala bankers, and suppliers of small boats and fake passports.
Among those sanctioned was Bledar Lala, a key figure in a gang smuggling migrants from Belgium across the Channel. Sanctions also targeted a Chinese company advertising boats for smuggling and Serbian gang leaders involved in extorting and abusing migrants.
Foreign Secretary Mr David Lammy said: “This is a landmark moment in the government’s work to tackle organised immigration crime, reduce irregular migration to the UK and deliver on the Plan for Change. My message to the gangs who callously risk vulnerable lives for profit is this: we know who you are, and we will work with our partners around the world to hold you to account.”
The FCDO’s new Global Irregular Migration Sanctions Regime is described as a world first, and complements law enforcement efforts by the National Crime Agency. Since the election, over 35,000 people have been returned, a 13% increase on the previous year.