Rotherham residents stand for ‘hope and peace’ after far-right violence

By Burak Bir

ROTHERHAM, England (AA) – Residents of Rotherham have expressed their disgust over the 'shocking' violence in the northern English town, one of many areas of the country witnessing far-right riots.

On what was the sixth day of violent disorder in towns and cities across England, far-right rioters targeted the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, a hotel housing asylum seekers, clashing with police and damaging the premises.

The UK has been in turmoil for days, with violent far-right mobs spewing racist and Islamophobic vitriol targeting Muslims, minority groups and migrants.

The riots were fueled by false claims spread online that the suspect arrested for the July 29 fatal stabbing of three children in Southport was a Muslim asylum seeker.

The attacker has since been identified by authorities as Axel Rudakubana, a 17-year-old teen born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, but that has done little to rein in the far-right rioters.

Speaking to Anadolu, Deise, a local resident who is a Brazilian missionary working as a volunteer in the UK, said such violence could never be the answer to any problem.

"I believe that violence will never bring feelings of hope and peace ... We can do better than we did," she said.

"We don't agree that generating violence will bring a solution. We need to be able to put aside our differences to be able to bring up a better solution for the problem and the damage already done."

Deise said she wants to pass on "a message of hope."

"As a Christian myself, we need to be able to see our differences as something that bring us together, make us strong ... There is a better solution for the problem," she added.

Alex Cake, another local resident, was among the dozens who took part in the cleanup at the hotel after the riot.

Cake told Anadolu she wanted to come down to the hotel at the time of the attack to call for peace but realized that police had asked that people stay away.

"Quite shocking, isn't it? You see it on the news and you understand kind of what's going on. But then to see it in real life, it really opens your eyes to what the people inside are about to experience," she said.

Cake said the asylum seekers in the hotel should be welcomed.

"This is our town, this is where we live, and the people that live here, the people that come into these hotels, it is not if by their choice, is it? They've got no other option than to flee from their countries," she said.

"These people should be welcomed and should be accepted within our community without the fear that they experienced."