AT least 20 incidents linked to anti-migrant protests, racism and the far right in the last two months have exposed rising political tensions across Scotland.
They included attacks on mosques and asylum hotels, alleged assaults – and the jailing of a neo-Nazi for slashing a student in the face with a knife.
The Ferret’s findings follow a terror attack in Manchester, when two men were killed at a synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Security has been tightened at mosques in Scotland after a series of incidents, and police said patrols were being carried out at synagogues following the Manchester attack.
The Ferret found there were at least 17 arrests linked to anti-migrant protests, and police are investigating a number of alleged hate crimes.
Anti-racism campaigners said the rise of the far right and anti-migrant protests at hotels are “causing widespread fear and alarm”, while “misinformation and toxic dialogue” are making people less safe.
The Jewish Council of Scotland urged political and community leaders to “act urgently to stop fanning the flames of hatred” and “anti-Jewish sentiment” and to work together to support community cohesion.
Anti-migrant protests
SCOTLAND witnessed a number of violent incidents last month. In Falkirk, a brick was thrown through a window of the Cladhan Hotel, the focus of heated demos for weeks after an asylum seeker housed there was jailed in June for raping a 15-year-old girl in 2023. At least four people have been arrested in connection with the protests.
In Aberdeen, at least seven people have been charged over alleged hate crimes linked to protests over asylum seekers. Sources told The Ferret there has been an attempt by anti-migrant protesters to set up a “vigilante” force to patrol Aberdeen.
Dundee also witnessed anti-asylum seeker protests, and at least three people were arrested. During one demo, missiles including rocks and eggs were thrown while a crowd waving Union flags and Saltires claimed they wanted to protect “women and kids” from “illegal immigrants”. Stand Up To Racism Tayside and Dundee Trades Union Council organised counter-protests and said they had been subjected to frightening levels of intimidation.
In one video shared with The Ferret, three men were filmed abusing women in a Dundee street after they handed out free soup and sandwiches at accommodation housing asylum seekers. The clip shows comments such as: “I’ll fucking assault you all … Go back to your own place, you fucking cow” and “the police aren’t here to protect you now”. Another man can be heard to say: “Your dad’s a bomber, your dad’s a bomber, you’re a fucking maggot.”
Perth also had protests, and last week, Police Scotland responded to claims that asylum seekers pose a threat to women’s safety by saying there was no data to suggest more crime as a result of them being housed in the city. Police added they are now looking more closely at offenders’ ethnicity and status than they had previously.
Commenting on our findings, a spokesperson for the Scottish Refugee Council said people deserve to feel safe, no matter where they come from, adding: “We stand in solidarity with anyone affected by these appalling incidents. Harmful misconceptions and narratives are being repeated in headlines and by politicians, and we all need to call out misinformation and toxic dialogue when we see it.”
Organisers of anti-migrant protests said they hold genuine fears about asylum seekers being housed in their communities while insisting that the protests are not racist.
But Héctor Sierra, of Stand Up To Racism Scotland, said some men at “far-right protests” targeting refugees at hotels have “displayed aggressive behaviour” including “threats of sexual violence towards anti-racist women” – despite claims they were “peaceful’ events”.
He added: “The protests and the mainstream narrative peddled by politicians demonising Muslims and refugees are emboldening every racist who wants to go beyond protesting and resort to violent attacks. Anti-racists and anti-fascists are right to oppose the far-right and stand in solidarity with refugees to break the momentum of those wanting to organise a bigger far-right presence in our communities.”
Maggie Chapman MSP, of the Scottish Greens, claimed that protests outside hotels are “clearly designed to intimidate, and they are making people less safe”. She added: “Politicians and parts of the media have played a shameful role in normalising and legitimising this kind of hatred. Fanning the flames of racism and emboldening far-right and fascist beliefs and behaviours has an intolerable human cost.”
Ahlam Souidi, senior community worker at Freedom from Torture, said it was “deeply troubling” to see communities in Scotland targeted by far-right groups who are “stirring up fear and division against refugees” for political gain. She added: “We know that when Ukrainians arrived, communities across the UK opened their doors with compassion. That same humanity must extend to everyone, no matter where they come from.”
The Ferret revealed last month that far-right groups such as the Homeland Party, Britain First and Patriotic Alternative had attended anti-asylum seeker protests. The Homeland Party said then it had no “connection to disorder” and that it is “normal for a political party such as ours to stand up for local people”. Patriotic Alternative Scotland said it would continue to partake in demonstrations as “we are a white advocacy group, and we support the indigenous people of these islands”.
There is no evidence that any of these far-right groups were responsible for the above incidents.
Mosques attacked
IN East Renfrewshire, Police Scotland said it was investigating vandalism at a mosque after a pole was thrown through a window while children were inside the building. East Renfrewshire, Police Scotland said it was investigating vandalism at a mosque after a pole was thrown through a window while children were inside the building. The incident occurred at Clarkston Community Centre and follows attacks elsewhere. In March, the Aberdeen Mosque and Islamic Centre (AMIC) Spital Mosque was vandalised with paint and a rock was thrown through a window whilst worshippers were inside. A mosque in Elgin was targeted in April for the third time, when several windows were damaged, and in May, a mosque in Alloa was set on fire.
In August, a teenager was sentenced to 10 years in custody after planning to carry out mass murder at a mosque in Greenock. The High Court in Glasgow heard the boy had been radicalised through social media from the age of 13. A list of “inspirations” found in his phone included Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Norwegian neo-Nazi terrorist Anders Breivik.
Police also investigated an alleged hate crime against a Muslim schoolgirl in a Glasgow suburb. The incident occurred around 4pm when she was walking home from Eastwood High School. The girl was allegedly assaulted by a man who made threatening comments against Muslims, and according to the Newton Mearns Islamic Centre, there was a previous incident on the same street which involved a 15-year-old girl.
The Scottish Association of Mosques (SAM) said security was being tightened at places of worship, and new measures include 24-hour patrols.
Antisemitism
FOLLOWING the terrorist attack in Manchester, Scotland’s political leaders came together and roundly condemned antisemitism, adding they were concerned for the Jewish community. First Minister John Swinney said: “Antisemitism is an evil we must confront and stand resolutely against. There is absolutely no place for violence in our society, and there certainly is no place for violence in relation to the Jewish community.”
The Jewish Council of Scotland said: “This awful attack is a tragic reminder of the manner in which hatred and intolerance towards Jewish people – whether put explicitly as such or directed (nominally) at ‘Zionists’ or other euphemisms – can translate into deadly acts of violence aimed at our community.”
The Community Security Trust (CST), an organisation that provides advice on safety and security to the Jewish community, said there were 1521 antisemitic incidents across the UK in the first half of 2025. In Scotland, there were 36 incidents in that period, down from 41 between January and June 2024.
Pro-Palestine protests
OTHER incidents include those carried out against pro-Palestine campaigners. In Edinburgh, Thomas McKenzie was jailed for 22 months after he admitted to slashing an Edinburgh University student in the face at a pro-Palestinian demo. The court heard that McKenzie shouted racial slurs and performed Sieg Heil salutes before attacking Ben Law – who was left with a six-inch bloody gash running from his mouth to his ear. Law had been attending an anti-war rally in March this year at the capital’s George Square, organised by the Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society.
The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign said its members had faced “physical aggression” and “time and again, the police have shown that they view those protesting genocide as potential criminals”.
A spokesperson added: “While focusing on monitoring us, they ignore the very real threats – verbal and physical – coming from far-right individuals. The case of the Edinburgh University student is a stark example. Students repeatedly reported the attacker’s abusive behaviour – including Nazi salutes – to university security, yet no action was taken.”
Racist incidents
IN Glasgow, a teenager who stabbed a 13-year-old boy in a racially aggravated attack was jailed in September for more than seven years. Junior Cameron, aged 18, shouted a racist remark at the boy during the attack in Glasgow’s Queen’s Park in March 2024. The child was punched, kicked and stabbed during the incident and was left needing 12 stitches.
Another racist incident in Glasgow involved a gang of masked thugs with bottles of Buckfast racially abusing an Indonesian family outside Queen Street Station on September 12.
British Transport Police confirmed it was probing the incident.
In the Scottish Borders, three members of the same family – the grandmother, mother and daughter – were reportedly targeted by a man shouting racial slurs on the High Street in Hawick.
Far right death threats
MEANWHILE, more than 150 people and organisations signed a letter revealing that far-right actors and anti-migrant protesters had issued rape and death threats to human rights defenders supporting migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. The signatories included Liberty, Greenpeace, Care4Calais, and Freedom from Torture, which has a centre in Glasgow that supports refugees and asylum seekers who were tortured in their home countries.
A statement said: “We have seen increased media reporting and social media attacks targeting organisations supporting migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in our community.
“As leaders and organisations in the migration, human rights and legal sector, we are coming together to voice our deep concern about the rise of hostility towards our organisations and the people we work with.
“Journalists and media outlets have a duty to act responsibly and with integrity, especially when it comes to their reporting, headlines and social media output.”
Omar Afzal, of the Scottish Association of Mosques, said: “The sheer number of attacks targeting mosques, asylum accommodation, activists and vulnerable individuals, is deeply concerning. Hatred on that scale poses a serious threat to the safety and cohesion of our communities.
“While we are all still coming to terms with the terrible synagogue attack in Manchester, we must also remember that we came chillingly close to something very similar occurring at the mosque in Greenock. What’s happening across the UK and Europe is happening right here in Scotland.
“More than a decade ago, Baroness Warsi warned that Islamophobia had ‘passed the dinner table test’. For many years, Scottish Muslims have warned that we can no longer keep perpetuating the myth of Scottish Exceptionalism.
“The Cross-Party Group on Tackling Islamophobia carried out the research, held hearings and laid out clear recommendations for ministers in 2021. The warnings were explicit, and the solutions were achievable.
“Those recommendations were met simply with nods, vague promises to ‘consider’, and then quietly shelved. The evidence has been sitting in government inboxes gathering dust ever since. Islamophobia seems to be relegated to a public relations issue, not treated as the structural emergency it so clearly is.”
