The British government on Monday condemned the "intimidating and thuggish behavior" of anti-immigrant demonstrators who converged on a port in southern England where migrants were brought ashore after crossing the English Channel.
Hundreds of protesters, many dressed in dark clothing and wearing masks, faced off with police in Portsmouth late Sunday in an attempt to prevent lifeboats from bringing the migrants to land. They then tried to block buses carrying the new arrivals to a processing facility for asylum seekers. The government stated that "the right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder."
The Portsmouth protest occurred a day after similar demonstrations in Dover, where hundreds of masked anti-immigration protesters blocked roads leading to Britain’s busiest ferry port. Both groups appeared to be led by Daniel Thomas, an ally of far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson.
Successive U.K. governments have grappled with the issue of people making the dangerous journey across the English Channel, with more than 40,000 recorded last year. The issue has been a rallying point for anti-immigration activists and is depicted as a crisis by politicians such as Nigel Farage of the Reform UK party.
The boat carrying approximately 140 people to Portsmouth had departed early Sunday from Normandy, a longer and riskier route than the usual departures from beaches near Calais. Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency confirmed that lifeboats, a coastguard helicopter, and a plane were involved in the operation to bring the migrants ashore. The Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government reports that increased law enforcement cooperation between Britain and France has led to a more than 40% reduction in crossings so far this year compared to 2025.