Protesters clash with police, descend on homes for asylum seekers in English town of Thetford
Angry residents have turned on police in a clash over asylum seekers in an English town where homes have been used to house migrants, with some protesters trying to break into a property to force the new arrivals to leave.
A crowd of about 100 residents gathered in the Norfolk town of Thetford over two nights to try to stop local homes being used to offer emergency accommodation for asylum seekers including many who cross the English Channel by boat.
Authorities had to evacuate at least five of the migrants when the protest turned violent on Wednesday night, as residents threw eggs and rocks at the house as well as the police.
The unrest is the latest example of violence over migration after years of growing anger at the arrival of thousands of asylum seekers, many of whom are housed in hotels or homes in residential areas.
Around 36,000 people arrived by small boat over the year to the end of May, straining the government’s capacity to house them despite plans to turn former military bases into asylum seeker camps.
Tempers in Thetford, halfway between Cambridge and Norwich, were already raw over government plans to house about 1000 migrants at an air base south of the town.
The angry scenes over the past few nights included men in black balaclavas confronting police in the apparent belief the authorities were protecting the asylum seekers rather than the community.
This led to physical violence when police stopped the protesters trying to break into the ground floor of a home with asylum seekers living upstairs.
“As police intervened, members of the group became physically aggressive towards officers,” the Norfolk Constabulary said.
“Two were taken to hospital after a male officer was struck with a rock and a female officer was seriously bitten, breaking the skin. A third officer was also spat at.”
Police said one man, 68, a resident of Thetford, was charged with possession of an offensive weapon – a wooden bat – on Wednesday night. He was released on bail and is due to appear in court on August 25.
Another man, aged in his 30s, was arrested after the first night of unrest on suspicion of a public order offence, but was released and issued with a conditional caution.
Assistant Chief Constable Julie Dean said the police supported the right to peaceful protest but would act against violence, intimidation or criminal behaviour.
“Our role is to keep people safe. We have a duty to protect everyone in our communities, maintain public order and prevent harm,” she said on Thursday afternoon, local time (about 10.30pm AEST).
“We will not stand by and allow violence to take place, whether that is directed towards members of the public, local residents or police officers carrying out their duties.”
One protester drew a direct link with recent violence in Belfast when local residents burned homes being used to house asylum seekers, according to the Eastern Daily Press.
“They got them out, kicked them out, and the ones that didn’t go, they burned the house down,” the woman told the local newspaper.
“I’m not saying that we would do it, I’m not an arsonist.
“At the end of the day, we got them removed.”
Most of the gatherings on the two nights were peaceful, the police and the local media reported, until the attempt to break into the home where the asylum seekers were housed.
A video shared on TikTok showed dozens of police escorting the small group of asylum seekers while protesters jeered, with some yelling: “Get them out.”
Reform UK councillor Scott Hussey, a cabinet member at Norfolk County Council, highlighted the scale of the police response in a post on X that said “half of Norfolk police” were guarding the house with migrants.
A key issue in public debate is the way a residential property can be turned into a “house of multiple occupancy” (HMO) in which each room can be rented on a separate tenancy.
Companies including Serco have used HMO properties to provide housing services to the Home Office to help with the arrival of asylum seekers, but this is controversial in residential areas where local people oppose the new arrivals in their neighbourhoods.
About 193,000 people crossed in small boats to reach the UK over the seven years to 2025, according to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford.
Citizens of six countries – Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Albania, Syria and Eritrea – made up 65 per cent of those crossing. Asylum was granted to 62 per cent of all those who came by small boat.
“Around 36,000 people arrived by small boat in the year ending 31 May 2026, 13 per cent less than in the same period the year before,” it said.
The fall in arrivals has been much steeper over the first five months of this calendar year. Only 9000 crossed in that period, down 38 per cent on the same period last year. The data is likely to change because boat arrivals generally increase over the northern summer.
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
