Community representatives in Broxbourne and East Hertfordshire have signed a statement saying it “cannot be right to protest outside bedroom windows” at the Delta Marriott hotel in Cheshunt, which is being used to accommodate asylum seekers.
The community statement, organised by Waltham Cross Labour councillor Sean Waters, has been signed by 21 politicians, Christian leaders and trade union representatives.
It says that families in the Cheshunt hotel are “not to blame for the problems we face” and that “it cannot be right to protest outside their bedroom windows over problems they did not create”.
Crowds have gathered at the Delta Marriott in recent weeks to protest against its use for asylum seekers.
The community statement, signed by Labour and Green politicians and Christian leaders in the area, reads: “The asylum system has been broken for years, leaving families languishing in hotels instead of being fairly processed.
“This is the result of historic political choices – not the fault of people fleeing war and violence.
“The [Delta Marriott] hotel currently houses mostly women and girls, it’s home to over 100 children.
“It cannot be right to protest outside their bedroom windows over problems they did not create.
“Our community is not far-right. People here have been let down and have seen their towns neglected.
“We face a crisis of inequality, where the super-rich take an ever-bigger share of the pie while working families in Cheshunt, Waltham Cross and across Hertfordshire get less and less.
“Local people’s frustration with a system that has let them down does not make them far-right, but this anger is being hijacked by far-right agitators from other areas.
“They offer division, but no solutions.”
Those to have signed the letter include Cllr Selina Norgrove (Lab, Waltham Cross), Cllr Nicholas Cox (Grn, Ware Trinity), Church of England priest Fr Jake Pass (Christ Church Waltham Cross) and Catholic priest Fr John Cunningham (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and St Joseph Waltham Cross).
All 21 signatories say they will “continue to engage respectfully with all members of the community who want to make this a better place to live, and reject all attempts to divide us”.
Stand Up To Racism has also organised its own ‘unity rally’ at the hotel for 6pm on Friday, August 29.
Posters advertising their event call on residents to “defend refugees” and to not “let the far right divide us”.
Lewis Cocking, Broxbourne’s Conservative MP, has repeatedly called since his election last year for the Home Office to stop using the hotel for asylum seekers.
After Epping Forest District Council successfully took legal action this month to close The Bell Hotel in Epping to asylum seekers, Mr Cocking asked for reassurance that asylum seekers at that hotel would not be moved to his constituency.
Mr Cocking said residents in his constituency are “understandably very concerned at the prospect of an influx of unvetted men from barbaric cultures, and particularly how this will impact the safety of women and children locally”.
Cllr Waters has described his comments as “shameful” and accused him of “choosing to punch down and scapegoat refugees for problems their own party created”.
Cllr Waters said: “I reject the demonisation of asylum seekers as a threat to our community.
“When someone commits a crime, like in Epping, they should face justice – but to smear all refugees, many fleeing war and violence, is wrong.”
The leader of Broxbourne’s Conservative-run borough council, Corina Gander, has said that the authority is taking legal advice about whether it could take action similar to that seen in Epping.
Covering Hertfordshire’s district and borough councils.
