The Indian High Commission in London on Tuesday issued an advisory urging citizens travelling to the United Kingdom to stay vigilant and exercise due caution following violent anti-immigration protests and rioting in several parts of the country.
The protests started after three girls – aged 6, 7 and 9 – were stabbed to death on July 29 in Britain’s Southport.
The demonstrations were fuelled by misinformation that the attacker was an immigrant and a radical Islamist. However, the accused person was identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, who was born in the British city of Cardiff to Rwandan parents.
On Tuesday, the Indian High Commission said that it was closely monitoring the situation. “It is advisable to follow local news and advisories issued by local security agencies, and to avoid areas where protests are underway,” it said in a statement on X.
Apart from India, Australia, Nigeria, Malaysia and Indonesia have also issued advisories to their citizens about the protests in the United Kingdom, The Independent reported.
On August 1, a Liverpool court lifted an anonymity order on the suspect’s identity due to the unrest. However, the riots and violence continued across the country, including in Liverpool, Bristol and Manchester.
The violence has resulted in dozens of arrests as shops and businesses were vandalised and looted and several police officers were injured.
In some places, anti-immigrant groups also attacked hotels where asylum seekers were staying. Protestors vandalised and set on fire two hotels in northern England: one in Tamworth and another in Rotherham.
Britain’s newly-elected Prime Minister Keir Stramer on Sunday warned that those engaging in violence would face criminal action.
“People in this country have a right to be safe, and yet we’ve seen Muslim communities targeted, attacks on mosques,” Stramer said. “Other minority communities singled out, Nazi salutes in the street, attacks on the police, wanton violence alongside racist rhetoric, so no, I won’t shy away from calling it what it is: far-right thuggery.”