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A message to people affected by racist violence in Greater Manchester
A message to people affected by racist violence in Greater Manchester
In recent weeks, there has been a spate of racist violence across Greater Manchester, in particular targeting houses thought to be “HMOs”.
We stand in solidarity with everyone who is feeling under attack at this time.
Whether you were born here or whether you’ve recently migrated, you are welcome here and you have a right to feel safe in your home. The racists who are harassing people in their homes, marching on our streets and committing criminal damage are a minority and they do not speak for our communities here in Greater Manchester.
Organisations like GMIAU and many others are here for you. We will always stand up for the rights of everyone in our communities to feel safe in their home, and we will oppose the toxic voices that fuel division.
Resources to keep yourself safe
GMIAU is also a hate crime reporting centre, which means we can help you to report a hate crime.
Why is this happening?
It is clear these are targeted, racist attacks.
You might be hearing “violence is wrong, but people have legitimate concerns about HMOs housing migrants”.
Where people have such concerns, they are based on coordinated scapegoating and misinformation.
An HMO, or house of multiple occupation, is a shared house with three or more tenants. Some HMOs are used by the private company Serco to house people seeking asylum on behalf of the Home Office. This is because the government does not let people seeking asylum work, instead forcing them to live in poverty, with no choice as to where they live.
For many years, politicians and the media have demonised black and brown people coming to the UK seeking safety, blaming them for problems the UK is facing and terming them “illegal”. When people aren’t able to get a house, or when they see community spaces decaying, they’ve been told to blame people who’ve migrated.
This scapegoating has allowed far-right groups to spread misinformation and turn asylum accommodation and “HMOs” into synonyms for criminality and threats to community safety. That's why some people are justifying the recent violence by talking about ‘legitimate concerns’ about HMOs – concerns which are based on misinformation and scapegoating.
But we know that homes are being targeted that are not Serco accommodation, and in some cases not even HMOs.
They are being racially profiled.
In other words, racist agitators are using the longstanding demonisation of people seeking asylum to legitimise a much broader racist agenda, casting a larger group of people as ‘illegal’ and a threat to community safety.
To be clear: The true threat to community safety here is the people smashing up homes, and the auditors, media and politicians who facilitate them by pretending to condemn violence but legitimising the sentiment behind it.
We will always stand up for the rights of everyone in our communities to feel safe in their homes, and we will continue to oppose the toxic narratives which are used to sow division, and justify and fuel violence.
We invite organisations working in Greater Manchester to add their names to this statement of solidarity: please do so here.
This message is supported by:
African Rainbow Family
Asylum Matters
Boaz Trust
Caritas Salford
LinguaGM CiC
Make A Difference GM
Manchester Community Central
Manchester Homelessness Partnership
Manchester Migrant Solidarity
Our Room
Refugee Action
Safety4Sisters North West
Salford CVS
Support for Wigan Arrivals Project
Trafford Green Party
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