What's Behind the Riots in England
Britain is in a state of emergency. Almost daily, far-right riots have been shaking the country since the fatal stabbing of children in Southport. How did this happen, who is behind it, and are these riots comparable to previous incidents in Germany? Experts provide answers.
Brutal attacks on police officers, shops owned by Muslims being set on fire, looting: For days, Britain has been shaken by far-right riots. Dozens of law enforcement officers have been injured. So far, more than 400 people have been arrested, with the first custodial sentences already handed down.
The riots were sparked by false reports about the alleged perpetrator of a stabbing attack on children in Southport near Liverpool, in which three young girls were killed. It was claimed that the alleged perpetrator was an irregular immigrant with a Muslim name - but both claims are false. The suspect is a 17-year-old who was born in Britain as the son of Rwandan immigrants.
An end to the riots does not seem to be in sight. The British police expect massive far-right riots today. Protests and possibly riots are expected at 30 locations, including the capital London, according to the news channel Sky News, citing security circles.
Who are the rioters?
The organization Hope not Hate, which specializes in monitoring far-right groups in Britain, reports that far-right activists have been spotted among the rioters. The organization speaks of the possibly most severe far-right violence outbreak in Britain since World War II.
According to security and terrorism expert Peter Neumann from King's College London, however, it is not only known far-right activists who are joining the protests and riots. Among them are many young men and football hooligans, as well as women and older people.
"This is not something that should reassure us, but rather the opposite. It shows that far-right extremists have obviously found a way to bring people onto the streets far beyond their own echo chamber," says the expert in an interview with the German Press Agency.
What role does the internet play?
The riots are organized and fueled on social media platforms like Telegram and X. Lists of addresses for the planned protests are shared, which often escalate into violent riots.
Agitators like the far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, and Lawrence Fox, a former presenter of the right-wing news channel GB News, are pouring oil on the fire. They are not organizing the riots, but they are fueling them with misinformation and giving the movement structure, explains Neumann.
"This is something new. The role of social media, and of disinformation on social media, is something we haven't seen in this clarity before," says the expert.
Who is the alleged mastermind behind the riots?
The far-right activist Robinson, whose civilian name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is accused of having organized and fueled the recent riots in several British cities from Cyprus via online networks. Robinson founded the English Defense League group 15 years ago, which claims to fight against the "threat of Islam."
Robinson is reportedly in Cyprus to avoid a court hearing in Britain. An AFP video journalist filmed him this week by a swimming pool in a five-star hotel in Ayia Napa on the south coast of Cyprus. The Cypriot police said they assume that Robinson is still on the island.
In light of the ongoing far-right riots in the UK, Cyprus has expressed its readiness to cooperate in the investigation of suspected mastermind Tommy Robinson. "We are in contact with the British police, and if they need our support, we are ready to assist," a spokesperson for the Cypriot police said.
Why is violence flaring up around the topic of migration?
Political scientist Anand Menon from King's College emphasizes that migration is not a high priority political issue for Britons. "The polls are quite clear on this," he says in a dpa interview. The majority is relaxed about immigration. Nevertheless, the political debate has often revolved around this topic in recent years.
Neumann holds unrealistic promises by the former Conservative government to reduce immigration numbers partly responsible for the heated atmosphere in the country. This created expectations that could not be met.
The rhetoric has also escalated, for example when the then Home Secretary Suella Braverman spoke of an "invasion" in reference to irregular immigrants crossing the English Channel in small boats. This gave legitimacy to the discourse of a Tommy Robinson, according to Neumann.
Is it really about social issues?
The Conservative government's austerity policies since 2010 have increased inequality in the country, says sociologist Aaron Winter of Lancaster University to dpa. This has created an environment where long-established residents could blame migrants for the austerity measures, which were actually implemented by a conservative, right-wing government, he says.
"The extreme right is portrayed as the voice of the left-behind white working class, as the voice of the people, the silent majority," says Winter. Academics, journalists, and political parties sometimes justify right-wing extremist statements as legitimate complaints from the working class, making them socially acceptable.
Have there been such riots in Germany before?
No, not on this scale. What has happened and continues to happen are demonstrations where migrants, especially Muslims, are targeted, as well as right-wing terrorist attacks, for example on houses where immigrants or their descendants live.
In the years after reunification, right-wing violence escalated particularly in eastern Germany. There were racist riots, for example in Hoyerswerda and in Rostock-Lichtenhagen, where in 1992 a right-wing mob formed in front of a building housing the Central Reception Centre for Asylum Seekers as well as Vietnamese contract workers.
The right-wing alliance "Hooligans against Salafists" (HoGeSa), which engaged in street battles with the police in Cologne in October 2014, was short-lived and characterized by high levels of violence. In 2018, Daniel H. was killed at a city festival in Chemnitz. In the following days, there were massive protests, in which citizens of Chemnitz participated together with neo-Nazis. Also present were AfD politicians and football hooligans. There were riots. In 2019, a Syrian was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. The court was convinced that he had stabbed the victim together with the fleeing accomplice Daniel H.
What role do parties play in Germany?
The AfD has repeatedly used severe crimes committed by immigrants as an opportunity to campaign for the party and its anti-immigration stance in public statements, sometimes even at the scene of the crime.
In Mannheim, for instance, a 25-year-old Afghan man injured five men with a knife at the end of May. One of them, 29-year-old police officer Rouven Laur, died from his injuries two days later.
Participants at an AfD rally in Mannheim held up banners with slogans like "Shut the borders." The AfD generally argues that if people can't enter the country, they can't commit crimes here.
The organization Hope not Hate has reported the presence of far-right activists among the rioters, suggesting a potential link to right-wing extremism. The British police anticipate massive far-right riots today, highlighting the ongoing threat of this extremist ideology.
