A group of masked protesters surrounded a Bibby Stockholm-bound coach sent to collect a group of asylum seekers housed in Peckham and punctured its tires to prevent it from leaving.
Protesters surrounded the coach with a human chain shortly after it arrived at the Peckham Road bus stop at around 8am and blocked all entrances and exits to the vehicle.
The organized group chanted “we will not be moved” and “refugees are welcome here” before throwing whitewashed bicycles under the vehicle as police attempted to de-escalate the situation.
Migrants due to be transferred to the government’s floating complex in Dorset have been asked to stay at the Best Western hotel until the situation is resolved.
It is believed the coach was due to pick up other passengers on its way to Dorset.
Protesters surrounded the coach with a human chain shortly after it arrived at the Peckham Road bus stop at around 8am.
The group punctured the tires of the bus to prevent it from leaving
Lime bikes were jammed under the coach to further prevent its exit
The organized group chants “we will not be moved” and “refugees are welcome here” as police try to defuse the situation.
Activists blocked all entrances and exits to the vehicle
Due to the actions, none of the migrants scheduled to be moved boarded the bus
The asylum seekers had been informed that they would be collected by coach on Thursday morning to be transferred to the Bibby Stockholm docked in Portland in Dorset.
The asylum seekers had been informed that they would be collected by coach on Thursday morning to be transferred to the Bibby Stockholm docked in Portland in Dorset.
Explaining their actions, one protester said: “We are trying to stop the police from deporting migrants.
“These are human beings who do not deserve to be moved like cattle. This is state-sponsored human trafficking, which is why we are here.
“Today they are transferring them to Bibby Stockholm. We will block the mode of transport.
“We’ll find any way to keep the coach from moving, no matter what.”
Kojo Kyerewaa, coordinator of the protest, told the Guardian: “Our friends who are in an Interior Ministry hotel have been informed that they are going to be taken to Bibby Stockholm today.
“We know that residents don’t want to leave and that Bibby Stockholm is a dangerous place to put anyone.
“It’s unsanitary and one person committed suicide there and there have been several suicide attempts by people who said they were going to Bibby Stockholm.”
According to Kyerewaa, the protest was inspired by a similar protest in Margate last week, where a coach was stopped from taking 22 asylum seekers to the barge.
Police are now protesting against demonstrators who have been inspired by similar actions in Margate.
Due to the action, the coach was unable to leave with the migrants
This action follows a series of Interior Ministry operations in which dozens of migrants about to be deported to Rwanda were arrested.
The Interior Ministry said a series of operations had taken place across the country this week, with further activities expected to take place in the coming weeks.
Authorities have not yet said how many people were arrested or where they were taken into custody.
Women are believed to be among those arrested by Interior Ministry officers in a series of raids this week after being selected to be sent to Rwanda.
Department officials declined to say how many people had been detained so far, arguing that ongoing operations prevented them from doing so. They confirmed that more than two people had been arrested, including men and women.
Enforcement measures have reportedly taken place across the UK – in England, Wales, Scotland as well as Northern Ireland – since midday on Monday.
It is not expected that children will be detained as part of the operations.
In one video, a team of around six officials – all believed to be from the Interior Ministry’s immigration control unit – arrive at a terraced house and enter through the front door.
We then see a policewoman open an interior door and announce: “Immigration”.
A man wearing dark plaid pants and a light-colored hoodie then exits the bay-facing house and gets into the back of a detention vehicle.
A security gate is then locked behind him.
The first illegal migrants expected to be deported to Rwanda have been arrested, following a series of nationwide operations this week.
Authorities have not yet said how many people were arrested or where they were taken into custody.
More than 7,000 migrants have already crossed the Channel this year aboard small boats
In a second sequence, officers arrive at another terraced house then leave with a young bearded man wearing black pants and a black hoodie.
The man exits the property coated in white, his hands handcuffed in front of him, and is placed in a van.
The faces of the two men were obscured in the videos and the locations of detention were not disclosed.
It is unclear at this stage how many people were detained in total.
Meanwhile, more than 700 migrants arrived in the UK yesterday after crossing into the UK – a new record for the year so far.
The Interior Ministry said 711 people made the trip on Wednesday on 14 boats, an average of 51 people per boat.
This brings the provisional total of arrivals this year to 8,278.
Channel crossings had already reached a new record for the first four months of a calendar year, jumping 34% compared to 2023 when 6,192 had been recorded and 19% compared to the total at this stage in 2022 (6,945 ).
Last year, 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK, a drop of 36% from a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.
Since the Rwanda Security (Asylum and Immigration) Act came into force after receiving royal assent last Thursday, 1,611 migrants have made the journey on 32 boats.
A group of migrants are brought to Dover, Kent, by the RNLI on Tuesday after being picked up
The number of small boat arrivals in 2024 now stands at a provisional total of 8,278
The news comes as a migrant boat carrying 66 people on board was rescued off the coast of Dieppe while trying to cross the English Channel, where the body of water between France and the United Kingdom is at least 65 miles wide.
Men, women and children were on board the ship when it ran into difficulty Wednesday morning off the French port.
Dieppe is 70 miles from the coast of Calais and Dunkirk, where the vast majority of migrant crossings have been launched, heading for the Kent coast, with the English Channel being just 21 miles wide.
It is not known at this stage whether the boat had departed from the French coast near Dieppe, despite the longer journey distance, or whether it had gotten lost and veered off course.
Lifeboats were dispatched to find the boat, French authorities said.
A Maritime Coast Guard vessel then found the stricken vessel and rescued the occupants.
Dozens of migrants crossed the French coast near Calais on Wednesday and were intercepted by British Border Force vessels.
The French Maritime Prefecture said the 66 people were rescued on May 1 and taken to port.
In a statement, they said the migrants were rescued by the maritime gendarmerie’s coastal maritime surveillance boat Yser.
“The Yser rescued the boat in difficulty in the afternoon.
“The crew rescued 66 castaways, including women and children.
“The castaways were then taken to the port of Dieppe where they were taken care of by the land rescue services and the border police,” said the press release.
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