The battle over RAF Barnham: how ominous anti-asylum protests engulfed a small Norfolk town

Thetford has a welcoming history.

So why have there been so many demonstrations this summer over plans to house asylum seekers at a nearby military base – as well as nights of violent disorder ? ‘I don’t talk to mainstream media,” says a young man in an Arsenal shirt.

I’ve just asked what brought him to the latest protest against the housing of asylum seekers in Thetford, Norfolk, and his disdain is clear as he goes to warn other protesters of the Guardian’s presence.

This isn’t exactly the unity promised by the flyer advertising today’s march: “Everyone welcome: families, friends, dogs.

Including the media.” The protest is planned as a two-mile march from Thetford’s market square to RAF Barnham, a site just over the border in Suffolk, which is due to house asylum seekers while they progress through the system.

It is the latest part of a campaign that has lasted the whole summer.

Banners line the square, the largest succinctly describing why people are gathering here today: “Thetford and Barnham says no to asylum seekers.” Continue reading...