Tensions are set to erupt once again in Portswood, Southampton, this evening as anti-immigration protesters resume demonstrations outside the Highfield House Hotel, which is currently being used to house asylum seekers placed there by the Home Office. For almost a year, anti-immigration activists have been gathering outside the hotel as well as holding marches through the city, with the site becoming a flashpoint for local unrest and the wider objection to migrant hotels.
In response, the anti-racism group 'Southampton Stand Up To Racism' has called an emergency counter-demonstration in Portswood from 5.45pm, warning against what it describes as attempts to “hijack” the tragedy for wider anti-migrant campaigning.
The latest mobilisation comes in the wake of protests following the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak in Southampton, who was fatally stabbed in December by Vickrum Digwa, who falsely claimed he had been racially abused and had acted in self-defence.
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