UK charities say toxic immigration rhetoric leading to threats against staff

Charities have warned of growing racial abuse, intimidation and threats of violence towards their staff and beneficiaries amid increasingly toxic rhetoric around immigration and race by politicians and extremist activists.

Voluntary organisations say they are being forced to introduce extensive security measures to protect staff and property – a trend described by one charity head as in danger of becoming the “new normal” – after being targeted.

Refugee and asylum seeker charities, Muslim, Jewish and ethnic minority organisations, women’s groups, youth bodies, homelessness charities and even charity shops have reported being subject to violence, threats and abuse.

Incidents include threats to rape and kill staff, verbal and physical abuse of beneficiaries on the street, attempted break-ins to charity-owned accommodation, and damage to offices and vandalism, including anti-migrant and racist graffiti.

Charities were being “targeted because of what they stand for and who they support”, said Saskia Konynenburg, executive director at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

The threat has become more explicit and targeted since the far-right Southport riots in 2024 and the spread of inflammatory political and social media rhetoric around immigrants and “small boats”, say charities. They add the abuse has become more extreme and uninhibited in the way it is expressed or enacted, both on and offline.

A coalition of more than 150 charities including Age UK, Citizens Advice and the Muslim Council of Britain has written to the prime minister, Keir Starmer, urging him to challenge the “cynical” targeting of civil society organisations by far-right politicians and activists seeking to stoke division for political gain in local communities.

Ali Harris, the chief executive of equality and human rights charity Equally Ours, which organised the letter, said: “The devastating antisemitic attack at Heaton Park Synagogue is a tragic reminder that it’s never been more important for us all to stand united when any of our communities are targeted.

“We are taking this collective stand because the organisations in this coalition and the communities we serve are experiencing growing threats and aggression – in places of worship, offices, shops, on public transport and high streets. People with extreme views are increasingly violent in how they express or act on their hatred.”

One charity chief executive told the Guardian increasingly mainstream political rhetoric on the political right denigrating immigrants and refugees, and stoking community divisions along ethnic lines had created a “permission structure” for racism which had emboldened far-right activists.

Last month, a drugs and alcohol charity in east London that formerly shared its premises with a refugee support charity was daubed with a George Cross and far-right graffiti. Volunteers repainted the office front only for far-right activists to return and deface the building with the slogan “East London stands with Southport”, a reference to the far right riots in Southport in 2024.

Some charities have taken drastic safeguarding action in response to the threats including installing safe rooms, fitting staff with phone trackers, hiring security guards, taking down charity signs outside offices, removing staff names from websites and redacting trustee names from publicly available Charity Commission filings.

Others have temporarily closed offices on the advice of local police, stopped providing outreach services because of the potential danger to staff and beneficiaries, and drawn up emergency action plans in the event their premises are attacked.

One refugee charity head said they currently spent “60% of the time managing safety issues related to far-right activism”. Another charity told the Guardian it was considering spending thousands of pounds on personal safety devices. One charity head described the tight focus on staff security as the “new normal”.

The chief executive of a London charity working with asylum seekers, who like most of those the Guardian spoke to wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, said the threats had a chilling effect but staff were determined to continue: “We do the work we do because we care and the people we support have been through terrible things and deserve a bit of kindness.”

The letter to the prime minister sent last week called on the government to provide “clear and consistent leadership” to defend the values of inclusion, equality and anti-racism and “take a stand against the division and hate” fuelled by politicians scapegoating communities for political gain.

“We are witnessing the significant damage to people of all backgrounds caused by the far-right’s cynical spreading of division and hostility between communities, their undermining of the rule of law, and the weaponisation of violence against women and girls.”

It adds: “We are experiencing increasing racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and antisemitism on the streets and in workplaces, including abuse of charity staff and charity shop volunteers. All this alongside attacks by the media and threats of violence against lawyers and civil society groups working with migrant and other marginalised communities.”

A government spokesperson said: “Racism is completely unacceptable and has no place in our society. This government has pride in our tolerant and diverse country, and we are dedicated to tackling inequality at its roots, including working closely with ethnic minority leaders to enact change.

“We have a strong legal framework in place to deal with the perpetrators of racism and other forms of hate crime and expect those responsible for these abhorrent offences to be brought to justice.”