On a hot August day in Rotherham, UK, what started as an advertised “peaceful protest” on Facebook quickly devolved into a scene of unthinkable violence and terror. A mob of about 750 far-right extremists, many from well outside the local area, descended upon the Holiday Inn Express where around 250 asylum seekers – mostly young men and teen boys who had fled to Britain seeking safety – were being housed. The rioters’ goal was clear: to burn the hotel to the ground with the refugees still inside.
Rioters Storm Hotel in “Sickening” Attack
The asylum seekers, having already endured untold trauma in their home countries, now found themselves fearing for their lives once again – this time on the very soil where they had sought sanctuary. As the mob smashed windows and set the fire escape ablaze, thick smoke began filling the rooms where frightened refugees huddled together, holding plastic bags over their faces in a desperate attempt not to suffocate.
“They really thought they were going to die,” said Phil Turner, a 72-year-old member of the local Stand Up to Racism group who was evacuated from the scene by police. His friend, one of the asylum seekers trapped inside the burning building, later recounted the horrific ordeal: “He had to hold a plastic carrier bag round his face to stop the fumes getting to him. They really thought they were going to die.”
In what police described as a “particularly sickening moment,” the rioters appeared hellbent on burning the refugees alive. Terrified hotel staff barricaded the doors as the mob stormed inside. It ultimately took hundreds of officers over 12 hours to regain control of the situation and evacuate the asylum seekers to safety – in the words of Turner, “If fascists think they’re getting somewhere, which they must feel, given what’s happened in the last year, this is the time for them to grow … We’ve got to make sure that we do everything we can to stop that.”
Far-Right Views Fueled by Misinformation
While many locals expressed shock and condemned the violence, disturbing undercurrents of anti-immigrant sentiment were evident. Some, like resident Susanne Anderson, gave voice to unverified rumors of refugee-perpetrated rapes being “covered up” by authorities. “They come from different cultures,” she reasoned. “Men of that age have needs and when they don’t have the ability to date …” The Guardian noted it was unable to substantiate any such attacks occurred.
Anderson insisted she’s “not a racist person” but that for those whose opposition to the hotel wasn’t rooted in living near it, “It’s easy to say it’s not a problem when it’s not on your doorstep.” While “horrified” by the riot, she concluded, “Ultimately I’m glad they’ve gone.” It’s a view at odds with other locals like pub manager Harley Dawson, who stressed most rioters came from outside the area, and that coverage made it wrongly “sound like it was people around here, when the vast majority weren’t.”
Scars of Trauma Remain
Now, four months later, the Holiday Inn Express on Manvers Way sits vacant, its windows still cracked, police tape remnants a reminder of the indelible trauma that occurred there. The asylum seekers have all been relocated, some hundreds of miles away, left to grapple with the aftermath of almost losing their lives to hate. One survivor confided to ITV News his belief that he would be “burned alive.” Another told The Guardian he was still too shaken to be interviewed.
“In living memory nobody’s seen that type of targeting of asylum seekers and Muslims,” Turner reflected grimly on the unprecedented nature of the attack. “They would have killed people inside, I think, if they’d been able to.”
Fear Grips Community as Political Narratives Clash
For locals, fear of further violence persists despite most rioters being jailed for at least two years. Some extremists claim their sentences are too harsh, seizing on the prison death of rioter Peter Lynch, believed to be suicide, to push a narrative of political persecution. The concern, as Turner noted, is that “If fascists think they’re getting somewhere, which they must feel, given what’s happened in the last year, this is the time for them to grow.”
The climate of fear has left many in the community afraid to even speak openly about the experience. One family, requesting anonymity, struggled to explain the racism and violence to their terrified children. Hotel workers are still too traumatized to talk to media. “They might be ready in a few years,” one confided.
Unanswered Questions and an Uncertain Future
As the hotel’s contract with the Home Office expires, no more asylum seekers will be placed there, a relief to those fearing another riot. Yet the anti-immigrant hatred that fueled the attack has not diminished. If anything, some worry it is poised to explode again on a larger scale.
For those who survived the Rotherham hotel riot, the trauma of almost being burned alive for seeking refuge is a pain that cannot be easily extinguished. In a Britain increasingly divided by views on immigration and susceptible to far-right extremism, their story is a grim warning of the hatred that festers beneath the surface, and the very real lives at stake if it is not confronted.
