Last Sunday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the southern English port city of Portsmouth. They blocked the streets to stop buses carrying refugees who had recently crossed the English Channel in a rubber dinghy. Police officers were injured, cars were damaged and - as it later turned out - sea rescuers were also attacked.
A video, for example, shows people in a boat approaching the RNLI, the British sea rescue organization, and calling their helpers “traitors”. Photos of the sea rescuers were later shared on the Internet, where users called for their names and addresses to be made public and threatened violence. Protesters also gathered outside the RNLI headquarters in the town of Poole. They accuse the sea rescue workers of supporting illegal migration.
There was some understanding from residents in Poole for the action: "We worry about our communities, the future of our children. Open borders are simply not a solution," says one man. And another believes: "There are people who are in real danger at sea, but the RNLI probably can't help them because they pick up migrants in the English Channel."
The number of boat refugees has fallen significantly
These allegations are untenable, says Peter Sparkes, managing director of the RNLI, which is financed by donations: "Last year we were commissioned and deployed by the coast guard more than 9,000 times. Only 109 times because of people in distress in the English Channel." That is 1.2 percent of the total rescue operations. Almost 95 percent of boat refugees are apprehended by the border protection authority.
In addition, the number of boat refugees fell significantly: from January to September 2026, 43 percent fewer people came than in the same period last year. But Joe Mulhall, research director at the anti-racism organization Hope Not Hate, does not believe that the masterminds behind the protests in Portsmouth - and the day before in the port city of Dover - were based on these numbers.
He says on The News Agents podcast: "They believe Britain is being overrun." They are convinced that a mass invasion is taking place and that the state, the police and the French and British authorities are complicit, says Mulhall. This idea is so deeply ingrained in people that the decline in numbers would not change anything, he believes.
Researcher: Neo-Nazis mingle with protests
The demonstrators were mobilized by the British Danny Thomas. He is a former bodyguard of the well-known British right-wing extremist Tommy Robinson and leader of the new group "Patriot Platform". On their website it says: There is a need for fewer commentators and more people who are willing to act.
Researcher Mulhall speaks of a new form of activism: more secretly organized, more aggressive, with a more vigilante character. And: “Well-known neo-Nazis from various groups that we observe were out and about in Portsmouth,” says Mulhall.
The scientist emphasizes that these are not worried residents who are afraid of what will happen to their community. "These are activists from the radical right who are stoking tensions, exploiting existing fears among the population and instrumentalizing them in really dangerous ways." Mulhall expects further protests from the group. The RNLI has instructed its staff to close offices and lifeboat stations if necessary if they do not feel safe.
