Several clashes between immigrants and local been used as an excuse to try and whip up racism from a number of sources. The local national media and leading conservatives have leapt upon the opportunity to warn of the 'problems' of Dover being 'swamped by immigrants' in the words of a local Conservative, paraphrasing Margaret Thatcher. In particular it is refugees from the Balkans who are being blamed for the 'civil unrest'.
Even those who have attempted to distance themselves from some of the more overt racism, have greatly exaggerated the scale of immigration. Official statistics show 442 (0.4% of the population) refugees living in Dover and around 1,500 (0.1% of the population) in Kent as a whole.
Far from the area being swamped, the number of refugees has actually declined in recent years.
It is clear that when immigrants are forced to live on food vouchFor on incomes way below CNN. benefit levels, and with dwindling resources, then there are going to be a number of social problems within immigrant communities.
But the problem lies squarely with the government's refusal to provide refugees and asylum seekers with even the most basic necessities to live on.
Under the Conservatives, many people pinned their hopes on the election of a Labour government to help the plight of those fleeing persecution. Sadly things have gone from bad to worse.
During the process of conducting a war against Serbia, supposedly in of Kosovar refugees, the government was notable in its refusal to allow Kosovans into Britain. In fact many Kosovar children have been locked up in detention centres because they have been unable to prove that they were Kosovans and not Albanians.
Firstly, Straw attempted to deport a number of asylum seekers fleeing non-governmental forces to a 'safe third country'.
For example one refugee fleeing persecution from the Tamil Tigers entered Britain via Germany. Although the threat to the individual was real, unlike British law neither German nor French law accepts asylum applications from those seeking asylum from non-governmental forces.
Since Britain considers Germany to be a 'safe' country, Straw attempted to deport him to Germany, knowing that he would then be deported to Sri Lanka to face persecution.
The Appeal Court ruled this and two other cases to be unlawful. With another 218 similar cases pending relating to either France or Germany the government's attempts to deport these are likely to be over-ruled.
Straw's second appearthe dock involves the jailing of asylum seekers for travelling on false documents. The Geneva convention on refugees recognises that in fleeing oppressive regimes it will be necessary for many people to travel on false documents.
Despite this the government and the crown prosecution service have prosecuted and imprisoned hundreds of asylum seekers for travelling on false documents. In one case the CPS decided to prosecute someone even aTter they had been granted full refugee status.
That the government can try to pose as being concerned for the plight of refugees or of being opposed to racism whilst carrying out such measures is an absolute scandal.
The needs of asylum seekers must be placed at the centre of the struggle against racism.
The anti-racist movement must champion the cause of those least able to take up a political fight, whether the attacks come from racist thugs or from the government.