Abuse of suspected migrants not an ‘innocent mistake’, says UK equality campaigner

Shabna Begum: ‘We’re in a dangerous situation and the government needs to step up to the challenge.’ Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

The vitriol faced by scouts and charity rowers mistaken for migrants was not an “innocent mistake”, a race equality campaigner has said, as she warned that toxic rhetoric could lead to more vigilantism and violence.

A wave of anti-migrant protests outside asylum hotels in recent weeks has been followed by growing reports of vigilantism, with people facing abuse after being mistaken for migrants.