One of the main campaign groups supporting refugees at the second immigration protest at a Chesterfield hotel housing asylum seekers fears violence against women is being wrongly exploited by some opposed to immigration to fuel hatred and division.
Protests have occurred elsewhere in the UK over fears that convicted or alleged sex offenders may be among asylum seekers and illegal immigrants something echoed at the latest anti-immigration demonstration at The Sandpiper Hotel, on Sheffield Road, Chesterfield, which has concerned the Chesterfield branch of Women Against the Far Right group.
Some anti-immigration protesters chanted ‘paedo, paedo’ at the latest heavily-policed Chesterfield demonstration between Unstone and Old Whittington where one anonymous protester also said illegal immigrants are coming into the UK unvetted and no one knows if they have committed ‘murder or rape’.
A Women Against the Far Right Chesterfield branch spokesperson said: “We reject the far right’s claim to be protecting women and girls. They are not defenders of women – they are exploiting violence against women to fuel hate and division.
“Violence against women and girls is a serious and urgent issue. But it will never be solved by Tommy Robinson and Nigel Farage, who scapegoat refugees, Muslims and migrants.
“The far right has mobilised protests outside hotels, including hotels where women and children are living. This does not keep women safe. In fact, 40 per cent of the men arrested following attacks on migrants last year had previously been reported to the police for domestic abuse (according to police data).”
Chesterfield’s WAFR branch claims women were subjected to ‘horrendous and vile sexual harassment designed to intimidate and threaten’ during the first Sandpiper demonstration at the end of September which had involved a smaller police presence.
Derbyshire Constabulary, which has stated that it will always work to facilitate people’s right to process, felt it was necessary during the second demonstration to impose an order allowing them to separate and fence off anti-immigration protesters and counter protesters at a good distance from each other for safety and to minimise disruption for the community.
The WAFR Chesterfield spokesperson added: “There is no evidence that people seeking refuge are more likely to commit acts of sexual violence. Many are themselves survivors of violence, war and persecution.”
WAFR Chesterfield fears blaming refugees distracts from tackling deep-routed causes of abuse and from bringing actual offenders to justice and they claim overall harassment and sexual violence is too often ignored by those in power.
The WAFR Chesterfield spokesperson said: “We believe in a society where all women and girls are safe, supported, and free from abuse – regardless of their background or where they come from.
“Standing up for women’s rights means rejecting racism and building unity to demand real action to end violence against us.”
Reform UK MP Nigel Farage has unveiled Operation Restore Justice with plans calling for mass deportations with the argument that asylum seekers are a danger to public services, communities and to women and girls, but the Office for National Statistics has no figures tracking crimes by asylum seekers making it difficult to pin down any relevant crime rates.
WAFR campaigner Hilary Cave said: “It’s important to challenge the hatred and division that is being sewn in our society, deliberately designed to divide people and stop friendship and understanding between different groups and all sorts of lives.”
The Government stated in August that foreign criminals will face immediate deportation after sentencing as part of its Plan for Change to improve border security.
It added that ‘foreign offenders’ at that time made up 12 per cent of the total prison population with prison places costing £54,000 a year on average.
Women Against the Far Right spokesperson Maxine Bowler told fellow campaigners at the latest Sandpiper demo that refugees come to this country to look after people taking jobs in the health services and in care and people have to say no to ‘racist rhetoric’ but one anti-immigration protester responded saying, ‘Not racist, not far right, just right’.
The Home Office is responsible for housing asylum seekers and although Derbyshire County Council and borough and district councils play no part in this process the county council does have some responsibilities to help unaccompanied child asylum seekers, and the county, district and borough councils do work on resettlement plans for those granted refugee status and with any homelessness issues.
Reform UK-controlled Derbyshire County Council Leader, Cllr Alan Graves, said the operation at The Sandpiper Hotel was led and managed by Derbyshire Constabulary and the county council had liaised with them to support their planning, including putting a notice in place to allow them to implement a road closure on the day to support public safety measures.
The Home Office has stated that it is ‘furious at the level of illegal migrants and asylum hotels’ in the country and that the Government aims to close every asylum hotel and it is working to move asylum seekers into more suitable accommodation.
Home Office data has revealed that 36,273 people were being housed in asylum hotels in September, 2025, at the time of the first Sandpiper Hotel demonstration.
The Government also claims it has returned nearly 50,000 people with ‘no right to be here’ which it claims is up 23per cent in a 16-month period before July 2024, with removals of foreign criminal and asylum related returns up 12per cent and 27per cent respectively over the past year.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has laid out asylum reforms aimed at tackling illegal migration claiming the current situation is out of control and unfair.
Protesters opposed to asylum hotels aired concerns during their first event with claims illegal immigrants are coming to the UK for its benefits and that the costs of housing asylum seekers is at the public’s expense, while Chesterfield & District TUC’s Unity in the Community counter-demonstration including Women Against the Far Right once again called for people to take a stance against views which it regards as far-right and racist.
Anti-immigration protesters at The Sandpiper demo were approached and given an opportunity to discuss their opposition to asylum seeker hotels, immigrants and the Government’s current plans but they mainly only wished to raise their objections to the police controls imposed at their second organised demonstration.
