Statement on arrival of people seeking refuge onto Hastings beach

Yesterday, on 6th September 2021, around 32 people seeking refuge were escorted onto Hastings beach by the local RNLI. We are, as always, humbled by the professionalism and dedication of the RNLI crews to rescue those in danger off our coastline. Their exceptional work has ensured that this group of people, including children, has safely reached our shores.

We were made aware of the arrival by our Arabic-speaking Trustee, who happened to be on the beach when the RNLI boat arrived. She witnessed the arrival and the care with which the group were transferred to shore, wearing life jackets, cloaked in blankets and clutching water bottles all provided by the amazing RNLI crew.

The reception for the group was one of warm welcome with several people lining the beach waving, to the obvious delight on the children on board who laughed and waved back, clearly happy to be coming to safety on dry land again.

Our Trustee offered welcome and help to the group on behalf of all of us at The Refugee Buddy Project and put a call out to Hastings Supports Refugees, who arrived with much appreciated welcome packs including gifts for the children who exploded with excitement at receiving them!

Our Trustee organised trips to the chip shop to provide much needed hot food for the arrivals (and the Police Officers who had been waiting with them) and was blown away by the generosity of local people who were offering money for this and other essentials. One young man in particular would not take any money for the item he offered (a pouch of tobacco), saying it was “the least he could do”. The humanity of these simple interactions left our Trustee feeling inspired by the people of Hastings.

Despite UK Border Force officials arriving within about an hour, it took nearly four hours for the coach to arrive to take people to Dover for their asylum claims to be started. In that time our Trustee and other local people, along with RNLI staff and local Police representatives were able to talk to the group and make them feel welcome.

While we cannot be sure, our Trustee believes that the group was made up of people from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, the latter potentially fleeing the horrific Taliban takeover of the last few weeks. We hope that their claims for refuge are dealt with humanely and expediently by the Home Office and they can start their new lives in safety and security.