Red doors mark out asylum seekers' houses in English town

[cronus]

http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-m ... SL8N1541A4

Red doors mark out asylum seekers' houses in English town

Asylum seekers in the northern English town of Middlesbrough are suffering abuse because they have been housed in properties that almost all have red front doors, making them easy targets for racists, the Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The houses are owned by a subcontractor of G4S, the outsourcing giant which has been embroiled in a series of scandals over alleged incompetence and abuses. A spokesman for G4S said the subcontractor, Jomast, would repaint the doors.

Asylum seekers living in the Middlesbrough houses described having eggs and stones thrown at their windows, dog excrement smeared on their doors and racist jibes shouted at them, the Times said in its report.

Britain has not received migrants in the same huge numbers that arrived in other European countries last year, but public concerns over immigration are running high and tensions have risen in many communities with high concentrations of migrants.

Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said he had ordered an urgent audit of housing for asylum seekers in northeast England, which is provided by G4S under a government contract.

"If we find any evidence of discrimination against asylum seekers it will be dealt with immediately as any such behavior will not be tolerated," Brokenshire said in a statement.

The Times quoted Ahmad Zubair, from Afghanistan, as saying he had repainted his front door white to stop the abuse, but a Jomast worker had repainted it red citing company policy.

"Asylum houses have red doors. Everyone knows that," Zubair was quoted as saying. "People were shouting outside the house, calling us hate words, throwing things at our windows."

Andy McDonald, the member of parliament representing Middlesbrough, told the newspaper the red doors were "a way of marking people out that is reprehensible", while his predecessor Ian Swales said they reminded him of "Germany in the 1930s".

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[pErvinalia]

Have you noticed MM there throwing eggs?

[Strontium Dog]

As if asylum seekers weren't to be pitied enough already, we now find out they're being rehomed in Middlesbrough. Poor bastards.

[Rum]

It would appear that someone has a contract to maintain the houses of these guys and was doing his job. The immigrants concerned, no doubt with very good reason to be paranoid about danger out there, interpreted the work in rather a different light.

[Tyrannical]

How disapointing. It's only paint and not the blood of those cowards fleeing a problem they created. I suggest they nail their severed heads ISIS style to the door to send a clearer message. Fight Islamic extremists or die not trying lol

[Rum]

Oh Jesus. You are still here..

[Tyrannical]

I missed you too
But million of refugees if they were forced to not flee would easily defeat the few tens of thousands of Isis terrorists. Refugee policies generally only make the situation worst.

[laklak]

Isn't the blood on the lintel supposed to ward off the Angel of Death?

[klr]

I favour the Ali Baba solution ... someone should just go around painting a whole load of adjacent doors red, and confuse everyone.

[JimC]

Let's paint the town red!

[laklak]

Just go all High Plains Drifter on the whole neighborhood.

[Seth]

They should be thankful they aren't required to wear yellow stars sewn on their clothing...

[JimC]

They should be thankful they aren't required to wear yellow stars sewn on their clothing...

...or green crescents...

[pErvinalia]

They should all be issued with an assault rifle. It's every human's God given right to bear arms for their own defence.

[laklak]

Don't need no God, man, my rights flow from my gun barrel!