ANOTHER impromptu meeting was held last week (5 April) to discuss the proposed immigration centre on the green outside the Town Hall in Bexhill.
However, unlike the gathering outside the Northeye Prison in Little Common, Wednesday’s meeting was a far more peaceful affair, although strong views were once again expressed.
Several residents once again made it patently clear that they were vehemently opposed to the plans for a variety of reasons, although everyone Bexhill News spoke to did not want to be named.
One said:” We are not against immigration per se, but we have been given so little information it has clearly raised concerns as you can tell from the number of people who have turned out.
“We know nothing about the history of those who would be housed there. For instance, have they got a criminal record in the country they have left?
“Everyone I have spoken to says the site is inappropriate and it appears those staying there will be largely unsupervised, especially during daytime and in evenings up to 11pm.
“No-one wants to see unrest develop in Bexhill or tensions rise. This is a lovely seaside town and although asylum seekers deserve a fair hearing to see whether their applications are genuine, this is simply not the right place.”
Another, who also did not wish to be named, added: “Feelings are running very high. We are decent people but residents of Little Common should not be ignored.
“The asylum seekers should not be allowed to do as they like in my opinion. There has to be some sort of monitoring system in place.
As a chant of “save our town” broke out, a third person added: “We don’t want it and we are frightened. This is a lovely town and we want it to stay that way.
“We need to know how many are genuine asylum seekers and how many have just slipped through the net. Basically we want hard facts rather than be met by silence from our politicians.”
However, there were others who stood up for the rights of the asylum seekers.
One of their supporters said: “People need to stop vilifying them. They have travelled from countries where they were in genuine fear for their lives. Imagine yourself in that terrifying situation.
“They have also had to endure terrifying journeys to get here, including crossing the English Channel.
They get here hoping for safe refuge only to discover that many people don’t want them here.
“What has happened to British compassion and our sense of common decency? Those who have opposed their presence in this country should be ashamed of themselves.”
