Dubai: In Bedfordshire, asylum seekers claim they are afraid to leave the hotel where they are staying because locals have been filming them. According to The Guardian on Friday, those staying at the hotel in the Bedfordshire town of Dunstable, who are primarily from Yemen, Syria, and Eritrea, have been the target of protests by hundreds of locals.

With the slogan "You Pay. Migrants Stay," the far-right organisation Patriotic Alternative has run a leafleting campaign mentioning the hotel.
One asylum seeker claimed that locals were filming hotel guests.

We believed that living in the UK would improve our lives, but nothing has changed, he was quoted as saying. Most of the time, we don't go outside. We are in danger; our safety is in jeopardy.

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The recent arrival of asylum seekers at the hotel has been opposed by John Gurney, a local councillor for the Dunstable Independents, who claimed in a Facebook post to have seen images and videos of the hotel's visitors playing football, strolling outside, going to a cafe, and visiting a park.

But why, he continued, do the locals who actually live there hang out outside the hotel and photograph the guests? Nothing we can do will change what has occurred.

If you deliberately observe and follow the guests... and then upload your pictures and videos online, it's possible that the police could pursue you for harassment even if no actual crime has been witnessed. 

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Earlier this month, Patriotic Alternative ran a leafleting campaign in Knowsley, Merseyside. Patriotic Alternative has collaborated with residents of Skegness, Lincolnshire, to hold a demonstration in the town centre on Saturday, claims advocacy group Hope Not Hate, which keeps track of far-right activity.

Another protest titled "Veterans Before Illegals," planned by former English Defense League activist Scott Pittsy, is also scheduled to occur in the town on the same day, according to the organisation.

Four Afghan teenage asylum seekers were detained in Kent in connection with the alleged rape of a 15-year-old schoolgirl, it was widely reported earlier this month. Police claimed that no further action would be taken against the boys after looking into the alleged incident.

The hotel in Dunstable was the current residence for asylum seekers who had previously resided in a hotel in Greenwich. About 40 of them refused to leave when Home Office contractors abruptly informed them that they were being transferred to the hotel in Dunstable. With the backing of the town council, they have remained in the Greenwich hotel.

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"The recent actions of the Home Office forcibly removing refugees living in our borough is deplorable," said Anthony Okereke, the leader of Greenwich Council. This raises serious questions about how the Home Office collaborates with local governments to guarantee the security and welfare of refugees and asylum seekers in our borough and elsewhere.

As a borough of refuge and sanctuary, Denise Scott-McDonald, a Labour councillor for Greenwich Peninsula, declared: "The removal of asylum seekers goes completely against our principles. We have been attempting to meet and collaborate with the Home Office to come up with a different solution because of this.