An asylum seeker has said the riots across the UK make him feel like he has fled “one warzone to come to another warzone”.
The man, who did not wish to be named, had come to the Jewellery Quarter in central Birmingham after social media reports claimed far-right thugs were going to be there tonight (Wednesday).
A large police presence was on the scene of the historic district, which is the largest jewellery production area in Europe, with tactical officers and several vehicles on standby.
Speaking to Express.co.uk the man, who had his face covered, said he came to Britain from Afghanistan because he thought he would be safe in a democratic country.
He said: “I receive help from this country and don’t understand this, I travelled across world and left my family and country to be safe and I don’t feel safe here.
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“Some of my friends they don’t have English and when they see these people rioting they don’t understand, they think they have come from a war zone to another war zone.
“I want to show these people if they are going to do violence there are people here who are going to stand in front of them.”
Asked why he was wearing a mask, the man said he didn’t want to be identified, but he said he was not there to carry out any violence, adding: “I am just here to see what these people are about, I know better than anyone what it is like to feel fear, what you see on the social media is not right.
“If I am here in this country, you can sure I have a reason, I didn’t travel all these countries and all this time for no reason. It was the point to feel safe here, but now I don’t feel safe, and that was the main reason I came here.”
Another demonstrator with the anti-fascist group that gathered around the old clock tower in the Jewellery Quarter said he didn’t trust the police and so was wearing a mask.
But speaking to Express.co.uk he said he was not seeking to cause any violence. He said: “I’m wearing a mask because the police aren’t the best in this country, but I’m not here for violence, I believe everyone in this country has the right to be here.
“When people start being violent and spreading hate in the UK like we have seen at the moment it’s not good, people shouldn’t have to be scared of these people. We are an island, we’re all immigrants.”
At the time of writing anti-fascist demonstrators were the largest and only group present at the clock tower in the Jewellery Quarter.
The only incident (at the time of writing) of trouble occurred when one man was accused of being a “Tommy Robinson reporter” but police quickly diffused the situation.
Riot police are expected to stay on standby for the “foreseeable future” including through the weekend “and beyond”, according to a national police chief.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams said officers will continue to be deployed until “the end of the disgusting scenes that we’re seeing across the country”.
Around 6,000 officers have been mobilised to respond to incidents of violence and disorder around the country – about 30 percent of the total national reserve of some 18,000 who are trained to respond to public order incidents and routinely stand ready to be called in when required.
The number deployed so far includes 3,750 who are tasked with responding to incidents in their force area, with an additional 2,000 who can provide backup or be sent to their neighbouring regions or other parts of the country.
