Dozens of activists arrested after police assaulted during protest to block Peckham migrant bus, as coach leaves empty
2 May 2024, 15:49 | Updated: 2 May 2024, 18:26
Dozens of protesters were arrested while trying to thwart an attempt to move migrants to the Bibby Stockholm barge from south London on Thursday.
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Violence broke out in Peckham and police made 45 arrests as protesters tried to block a bus from taking migrants to the barge.
Offences included obstruction of the highway, obstructing police and assault on police.
Protesters said they had also been hit by officers. Someone else who was not a member of the protest group was arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence.
Activist groups had tried to block the coach by sitting on the ground, piling up e-bikes and even slashing its tyres.
The coach eventually left empty after skirmishes between police and activists and arrests. The migrants were returned to the hotel.
The Home Office has not confirmed whether there are plans to try again to move them to the Bibby Stockholm on another day, if the transfer is now on hold indefinitely or has been abandoned altogether.
The Met's deputy assistant commissioner Ade Adelekan said: “It saddens me greatly to say that a number of officers have been assaulted in the course of their duty following an incident in Peckham today where they sought to uphold the law.
“Police were called at around 08:40hrs to reports of a group of protesters near a hotel in Peckham Road SE15.
“It was reported that a coach due to transport people to a location in Dorset had been prevented from leaving by a group of people who stood around it and obstructed it with bicycles. We were not made aware of this operation before hand.
“The coach’s tyres were also reportedly deflated to prevent it from leaving.
The Home Office has abandoned plans to move a group of asylum seekers to the Bibby Stockholm barge following protests
“My officers were quickly on scene and spoke to the coach driver, and especially protesters at length. They were warned that they could be arrested.
“After this demonstrators blocked the road and continued to prevent the coach, and police vehicles, from leaving.
“More officers were sent to the scene to safely remove people from the road, allow the vehicles to leave and for the road to re-open.
“A number of officers have reported being assaulted. Thankfully I’m glad that none of those are seriously hurt.
“A total of 45 people have been arrested and taken into police custody for offences including obstruction of the highway, obstructing police and assault on police."
Following the protest action, the Home Office has abandoned the plans, with the bus leaving the location with no asylum seekers on board.
Around 30 police officers arrived on the scene on Thursday afternoon and moved to arrest protesters and drag them away, although dozens more remained seated on the ground.
Protesters were also seen shouting at officers and trying to block police vans.
Police arresting protesters blocking Peckham migrant bus
One officer said: "Obstruction of a highway is one thing, but obstruction of police in their duty is a very serious offence and if that continues, we will arrest you."
The Home Office slammed the "intimidatory" tactics used by protesters. Downing Street urged protesters to let officials do their jobs.
”[The Prime Minister] would urge people to allow Home Office enforcement officers to carry out their duties,” a spokesman for No 10 said.
“He obviously fully supports the authorities and the police to do what is necessary to ensure that the operation is able to be carried out successfully.”
He added: “The Prime Minister’s message is that the reason we have introduced this scheme is because we want to provide a deterrent and stop the people smuggling gangs from exploiting people and risking lives as people make these dangerous journeys across the channel - we want to put an end to that, we want to stop the boats and that is what this scheme is designed to do.”
The Bibby Stockholm arrived at the docks in Dorset last July as part of the government’s efforts to cut costs from housing migrants in hotels.
More than 500 migrants are expected to be housed on the Bibby Stockholm, although the barge was hit by trouble last year after its first group of migrants had to be evacuated after legionella bacteria was discovered on board.
It is understood those being relocated to the barge are not prospective Rwanda deportees and will be held at the site until their asylum applications are processed.
Photos show crowds of people surrounding a coach parked outside the hotel, allegedly intended to transport the migrants, in an effort to prevent them from being able to board the vehicle.
Video footage obtained by LBC shows masked protesters lining the coach while chanting 'we shall not be moved'.
Read more: ‘Ex-Gurkha’ deployed at London’s flagship Greggs as shoplifters brazenly target bakery chain
Protesters gather outside a London hotel following reported plans to 'remove migrants'
Alex Shaw, from The Movement For Justice By Any Means Necessary, told us: “What we’ve done is we’ve surrounded the vehicle, stopped it from moving, so we’re not letting it go until we get confirmation from the Home Office that the remaining asylum seekers who are due to go on the bus, their removal has been cancelled.
“We’ve got hundreds of people from the local community here, we’ve surrounded the bus and we’re keeping it here until we get confirmation.
“We’ve found out this bus was due to go to a number of hotels to pick up other refugees to put them on the barge, so us delaying this coach helps those people.”
The Home Office has reportedly cancelled the plans, however this is yet to be officially confirmed.
Two members of security staff are reportedly stood guard outside the hotel gates, while police officers are patrolling the surrounding area.
Steph Neville, a protester in Solihull, told an LBC reporter on Monday that between five and six people have allegedly been detained and taken to Colnbrook Immigration Centre over the last few days.
On Wednesday, the Home Office recorded the highest number of daily migrant Channel crossings in a single day so far this year.
Provisional figures show some 14 boats were detected making the journey on Wednesday, bringing an average of around 51 people per boat.
This brings the total number of small boat arrivals in the UK this year to an estimated total of 8,278 - 34% higher than the total equivalent point last year.
A Home Office spokesperson said in an updated statement on Thursday: “This behaviour is intimidatory and aggressive. As part of our commitment to significantly reducing the use of hotels, asylum seekers are being moved into alternative accommodation to reduce costs on the taxpayer.
“We have returned 150 hotels to local communities and we work closely with accommodation providers to manage the exit process in a way which limits the impact on local authorities and asylum seeker.”
An earlier statement read: “Accommodation is allocated to asylum seekers on a no-choice basis and asylum seekers can make representations if they believe they are unsuitable to be moved to the Bibby Stockholm. These are considered in full before any decision is made.
“We continue to deliver our plans to significantly reduce the use of asylum hotels, closing 150 by beginning of May, and work closely with accommodation providers to manage the exit process in a way which limits the impact on local authorities and asylum seekers alike.”
