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Care4Calais founder 'deeply shocked and horrified' by scenes outside Merseyside hotel housing asylum seekers
11 February 2023, 15:14
Care4Calais founder tells Paul Brand about far right protests outside Merseyside hotel
Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley describes the "violence" and "hatred" that protestors displayed outside the hotel housing asylum seekers.
Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley recounted the riots that occurred outside a Merseyside hotel which was housing asylum seekers last night.
The charity boss told Paul Brand: "We were there because we heard about this demonstration and we were really concerned about the people inside, because they are victims of war and conflict and torture.
"We were really worried how frightened and afraid they were going to be, hearing people outside who didn't want them there, who wanted them to go home - they're afraid and alone in a foreign country... so we wanted to show that there are people in this country who care about them.
She said: "We didn't at all anticipate or realise what we were going to see and I was deeply shocked and horrified about what we did see there last night."
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Ms Moseley recounted: "About 8.15... one of the protesters on the other side had got on the roof of one of the police vans... Then somebody said that one of the police vans had been set on fire and I looked down and you could see flames coming out of the window of one of the vans.
"It very quickly turned into a massive fire and the van actually exploded. Fire was practically blocking the entire street, you could hear lots of shouting and you could see people at the end of the road starting to fight with police."
The Care4Calais founder went on to say: "You don't expect, in our country, to see that level of violence and they were shouting horrible things about the asylum seekers, there was a lot of hatred... I was so deeply shocked to see these scenes."