REPORT. “It’s going to take time to forget”: Southport residents shocked by violence of riots against a backdrop of Islamophobia

Since the knife attack that cost the lives of three young girls and injured around ten people on Monday 29 July in Southport, riots have been increasing in the United Kingdom, particularly at the request of the far right.

More than 6,000 police officers have been deployed in the UK to combat the riots that have been raging for a week. The Labour government has said it will not let anything go, as the country has been rocked by violence since the knife attack that killed three young girls in Southport, in the north-west of the country, on Monday 29 July.

The suspect was initially presented on social media as an asylum seeker and Muslim, which played to the benefit of the far-right who immediately called for protests across the UK. The Muslim community has since been targeted, particularly in Southport where the local mosque and some shops have been attacked.

Outside the Southport mosque, there is no trace of the violence. The place of worship has reopened to worshippers for prayers. “Many neighbors came to clean, to help us, thanks the imam. We received a lot of cards, flowers, even food… The neighborhood has been great.”

The imam welcomes the mobilization of the neighborhood, but also recalls the violence of the attack that took place just a week ago.

“300 people came and committed violence. They broke windows and walls, they set fires on both sides.”

The Imam of Southport

to franceinfo

At the end of the street, the grocer was also attacked, provoking anger among residents, who describe a normally peaceful neighborhood. The shopkeeper, of Sri Lankan origin and Buddhist, was absent at the time of the incident: he had left his shop as a precaution. “It was horrible, I live just across the street. I saw everything, I have videos of the store being attacked. It’s crazy…”