Yui Mok/PA
A group of protesters have slashed the tyres of a bus to prevent migrants from being removed from a hotel in south London.
According to reports in The Telegraph, demonstrators took out the wheels on a vehicle outside the Best Western Hotel in Peckham, as well as placing electric bikes under the front and rear wheels.
One of the demonstrators from the group Gma’s Community Kitchen, a group that supports asylum seekers, said the migrants were being moved to the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset.
They added that protesters would “find any way to stop the coach from moving, whatever that looks like”.
However, a Home Office spokesman said: “This behaviour is intimidatory and aggressive. As part of our commitment to significantly reducing the use of hotels, asylum seekers are being moved into alternative accommodation to reduce costs on the taxpayer.
“We have returned 150 hotels to local communities and we work closely with accommodation providers to manage the exit process in a way which limits the impact on local authorities and asylum seeker.”
A masked protester who chose not to give his name said: “We are here today to protect our friends. The Government’s migrant policy is desperate and probably unlawful.
“The removal of people from this accommodation to an unsanitary environment on the Bibby Stockholm barge is despicable.
“People have come here, to this country, seeking safety. They are not to blame for the destruction of our NHS and public services. But the Government finds it convenient to use them as scapegoats.”
He added: “The Government may try to break international law to put people on flights but the migrants are not to blame.”
When asked about the tyres of the bus being slashed, he said: “I don’t know how the tyres happened, maybe the tyres are comrades and let themselves down.”
The protests come as the first migrants set to be deported to Rwanda have been detained.
The Home Office said a series of operations took place across the country over the last few days, with more activity due to be carried out in the coming weeks.
It comes amid the Government’s bid to get flights to send migrants to the east African nation off the ground by July, after the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act became law last week.
The announcement was made after figures showed Channel crossings had reached another record high and ahead of what is expected to be a testing set of local and mayoral elections for Rishi Sunak across England and Wales, in which the Conservatives are likely to suffer heavy losses.
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