'Misinformation' results in protest in Rotherham and chants for and against refugees
One protester shouted ‘stop immigration all together’ while counter protesters chanted ‘refugees are welcome here’ in a gathering in Rotherham town centre this afternoon.
A couple of dozen protesters gathered in the courtyard of Riverside House - Rotherham Council’s HQ - in a pre-arranged event organised in response to claims that children has been sending Valentine’s cards to refugees.
The City of Sanctuary charity, which runs school activities under the ‘Schools of Sanctuary’ initiative, engages with children in schools across the country to discuss the plights refugees and asylum seekers face.
However, the charity faced backlash recently due to a year-old Valentine's Day campaign, in which schools were offered material that would allow children to write cards showing their support of refugee issues.
Political agitators claimed that this campaign had instead seen children write ‘love letters, Valentine’s Day cards, and pledges’ to adult refugees.
It is unclear why Rotherham was chosen as the location for the protest.
The City of Sanctuary said it was aware of a far right group circulating ‘false and inflammatory’ material about its Schools of Sanctuary programme, which it says is aimed at offering a ‘simple act of welcome’.
It added: “This material includes dangerous misrepresentations of school activities and is being used to mobilise people to protest.
“Our Schools of Sanctuary programme promotes compassion, understanding, and safety.
“Whilst we are not directly involved in the delivery of activities in schools, we understand the activity in question, undertaken in a small number of schools, did not involve children writing personal Valentine’s cards to adults in the asylum system.
“Instead, it was a simple act of welcome – pupils wrote short, anonymised messages to people seeking safety in their communities.
“These were expressions such as ‘Welcome to our town’ or ‘We hope you feel safe here’.
“No personal information was shared, and the activity was age-appropriate, teacher-led, and in line with rigorous school safeguarding policies.”
At today’s protest many of the men involved had removed their shirts, while others carried Union Jack and St George's Cross flags in their battle against immigration.
At least two children were brought, who sat to the side as these enraged adults hureld insults at a group of equally numbered counter protesters.
The two groups were separated by a line of police officers, with the counter-protesters having set up a microphone and speaker and leading a series of talks from members about welcoming refugees into the country, global conflicts causing mass displacement and class inequality.
They also took the opportunity to call their opposition ‘Nazis’ and chant ‘refugees are welcome here'.
A reporter for The Star attempted to speak to the protesters, however they declined to comment.
Initially, counter protesters outnumbered the protesters, however by 1pm numbers had evened out.
A handful of protesters did attempt to cross the police line, however were challenged by officers, with some returning to their side while others left altogether.
Both groups had entirely dispersed by around 2.45pm.
Workers at the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council offices stood at the windows to watch events unfold, while a drone hovered above the building.
Former education secretary Gavin Williamson has asked the Charity Commission to investigate the City of Sanctuary following claims that it had broken guidelines on charities remaining apolitical.
The Telegraph reported that the watchdog is currently at the early stages of its assessment and has not yet drawn any conclusions.
A spokesperson for the charity said of this latest development: “We follow all Charity Commission guidelines and are confident that we are working within our charitable aims, we will fully cooperate with any Charity Commission investigation.”