Aberdeen Calls Flag Crackdown as Protests Fuel Fear Over Asylum

(ABERDEEN) Calls to tighten rules on public flag displays gathered pace in Aberdeen after protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers, with officials and community leaders warning the gatherings were “fueling fear” among people staying in the accommodation and nearby residents. The demonstrations, which featured large St. George’s Cross and Union Jack flags, drew counter-protests and police deployments, and have been linked by local sources to a rise in anti-immigration sentiment and related hate crimes in the city.

The most recent flashpoint came on August 6, 2025, when a protest against illegal immigration formed outside an Aberdeen hotel that houses asylum seekers, while a counter-protest took place at the same location. Police made arrests at the scene and in follow-up operations, and at least seven people have since been charged with hate crimes connected to the Aberdeen protests, according to sources in the city. Two men were arrested and charged under the Hate Crime Act, with one also charged with assault, and five more men were later charged under the same law.

Community groups said the flag-heavy protests had shifted from political expression to a show of force that rattled families inside the hotels. One local partnership said,

“We are incredibly concerned about recent protests in Aberdeen which have targeted accommodation where people seeking asylum are staying.”
Organisers of counter-demonstrations said the Aberdeen protests coincided with an uptick in harassment and abuse aimed at asylum seekers and those supporting them, as the city grappled with the fallout of national arguments over borders and migration.

Debate over flags quickly spread beyond Aberdeen. Some councils elsewhere have started removing flags from public infrastructure, citing safety and cohesion concerns after reports of people ascending lampposts and bridges to hang banners above roads. Tower Hamlets Council in east London said it had acted after seeing people from outside the borough arriving to put up flags and stir tensions. “We are aware that some individuals putting up flags are not from our borough and that there have been wider attempts by some coming from outside our borough to sow division,” the council said, as it explained why crews were taking flags down from council street furniture.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson acknowledged the tension around flag symbolism as protests spread: while flags are part of national heritage, the spokesperson said,

“some want to use it to cause conflict.”
Aberdeen councillors and local leaders pointed to that argument as they urged ministers and police to discourage provocative flag displays around asylum accommodation, warning that symbols that carry pride for some can feel like warnings to others when used in confrontational settings.

As asylum seekers shared their experiences of recent weeks, several described the flags as the most visible sign of an atmosphere turning hostile. Stanley Oronsaye, a 52-year-old hospitality worker from Nigeria and Isle of Dogs resident, said,

“The worry is from the fact that if it escalates it can turn into something else. It’s worrisome when… nationalism is allowed to take a different tone.”
Others said they feared being identified and followed when protesters gathered outside hotels, chanting and filming across police lines. For some, the Aberdeen protests revived memories of earlier anti-immigration marches around the UK that turned violent, even though many in the city stressed the need for peaceful expression and lawful protest.

The response in Aberdeen has not come from one side alone. Counter-protesters, including local branches of Stand Up To Racism and unions, gathered near the hotel on the day of the main demonstration to back asylum seekers and reject far-right slogans. Union leaders called the far-right protest “shameful” and urged residents to show up peacefully in support of those inside the accommodation.

“We must challenge their hateful presence and their attacks on vulnerable people,” a local union statement said.
The Morning Star, covering events in the city, reported that far-right attempts to intimidate refugees were “seen off by solidarity” from counter-protesters who remained after the main crowd moved on.

The police figures and charges that followed gave shape to what many had feared: a protest wave moving beyond slogans into offences linked to hate crimes. Local sources said at least seven individuals have been charged in Aberdeen, with two men arrested and charged under the Hate Crime Act and one also facing an assault charge, before five more men were charged later under the same act. Officials said those statistics did not capture every incident around the protests and counter-protests, but they reflected a worrying trend in a city that has turned hotels into temporary refuges for people seeking safety.

The clashes over flag displays have exposed different views of patriotism and belonging. For some demonstrators, flying the St. George’s Cross and the Union Jack is about tradition and identity. But for people from minority communities and those living in the hotels, seeing those flags waved by organised groups outside their windows feels like a warning. Shriya Joshi, 26, who is from India, said,

“If it’s a message to the immigrant community or anything of that sort, then it’s not that pleasant.”
She said the symbolism may differ from one street to the next, but outside housing for asylum seekers it reads as a message aimed at those inside.

Officials in Aberdeen hope that clearer rules on where and how flags can be displayed will lower the temperature around sites housing asylum seekers. They argue that the city’s standards for events, demonstrations and street fixtures should extend to flags placed on public property, and that police should take firmer action when flags are used to target protected groups. Those calls have intensified in the days since August 6, 2025, as city leaders try to prevent a repeat of arrests and charges under hate-crime laws. Authorities in Scotland have urged people to report hate incidents and have pointed to the Scottish Government’s information on hate crime law to explain how offences tied to race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and transgender identity are handled.

The Aberdeen protests form part of a broader pattern across the UK in 2025, with far-right groups such as Britain First and the Homeland Party appearing at rallies criticising asylum policy and refugee housing. Those demonstrations have sometimes spiralled into scuffles and property damage, drawing hundreds of counter-protesters and large numbers of officers to keep opposing crowds apart. In several towns, events grew beyond local grievances, with over 1,000 protesters and hundreds of counter-protesters attending some rallies, stretching police resources and heightening fears of further clashes.

Local partnerships and advocacy groups say the effect on the ground is immediate and personal. Residents near asylum hotels describe a spike in harassment and graffiti, and people staying inside the hotels have reported feeling trapped when crowds gather. Children living in the accommodation have been kept indoors on protest days, teachers said, and volunteer groups have changed their schedules to avoid putting people at risk. The message from organisations working with asylum seekers is that the flags are not simply banners but part of a display designed to intimidate. As one partnership put it in its statement,

“We are incredibly concerned about recent protests in Aberdeen which have targeted accommodation where people seeking asylum are staying.”

City leaders have been careful to separate the right to protest from criminal acts. They say the rise in hate-crime charges shows the point at which policing must intervene, especially when gatherings take place outside homes and shelters. Police involvement on August 6, 2025 included arrests on the day and in the days that followed, with paperwork reflecting charges under the Hate Crime Act and an additional assault charge for one suspect. While officials have not released a comprehensive breakdown of the alleged offences, sources confirm that at least seven individuals have been charged in connection with the Aberdeen protests.

In the political arena, the conversation has widened to how councils can act when protests switch from speech to intimidation. Tower Hamlets, far from Aberdeen but facing a similar street-level debate, said it will keep removing flags from public infrastructure where there are safety concerns or signs of coordinated attempts to stir tensions. The council’s explanation —

“We are aware that some individuals putting up flags are not from our borough and that there have been wider attempts by some coming from outside our borough to sow division”
— has been cited by Aberdeen leaders pushing for a citywide approach that prioritises safety around asylum accommodation. Supporters of stricter rules say measures used in London should apply in Scotland when the aim is to prevent escalation around residential sites.

Not everyone agrees on the next steps. Protest organisers insist their events were lawful and accuse officials of overreach. Counter-protest organisers insist they will continue to turn out when far-right groups try to demonstrate outside hotels, arguing that silence would leave asylum seekers isolated. Trade unionists and anti-racism campaigners in Aberdeen say they will keep mobilising but will work with police to avoid flashpoints. They point to the union statement that called the far-right protest “shameful” and warned,

“We must challenge their hateful presence and their attacks on vulnerable people.”

On the streets, the reality is a pattern of rapid organisation and response: a call on social media brings a crowd to a hotel entrance; local groups put out a counter-call; police set up lines and cordons; and residents watch from windows as chants echo through the evening. For those inside, the accumulation of events matters more than any single day. As Mr. Oronsaye said, the worry is about escalation:

“The worry is from the fact that if it escalates it can turn into something else. It’s worrisome when… nationalism is allowed to take a different tone.”
When that tone carries into the places people sleep, the line between protest and intimidation blurs, and the arrests that follow surface as hate-crime statistics rather than isolated incidents.

The Aberdeen protests have become a test of how a city handles passionate debate without letting it slide into threats and violence. With charges filed under the Hate Crime Act, including one assault count, the legal consequences are clear. What is less clear is how to manage the symbolism of flags in a climate where a banner on a pole can read as celebration to one person and a warning to another. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson summed up that tension by noting that while many see the flag as a sign of identity,

“some want to use it to cause conflict.”
That assessment underpins the current push in Aberdeen for stricter controls on displays that appear targeted at asylum hotels.

For now, Aberdeen officials are pressing for coordinated action, from policing around accommodation sites to decisions about flags on public property. Community leaders want the city to work with hotel operators, charities, and the police to reduce the chance of confrontation. They argue that a narrow focus on where flags can be placed, and how demonstrations are managed outside residences, will help prevent another night of arrests and another round of headlines about hate crimes tied to the city’s protests.

As the summer’s events sink in, the people at the heart of the story remain those living in temporary rooms, waiting on decisions about their futures while debates rage outside.

“If it’s a message to the immigrant community or anything of that sort, then it’s not that pleasant,” Ms. Joshi said,
capturing the unease that many describe when they see national flags gathering outside a hotel door. Whether Aberdeen’s new push for controls on flag displays will lower the noise around asylum seekers is still uncertain. But the hope among residents and volunteers is that the next protest will draw fewer people, fewer flags, and fewer charges — and that the city will set a calmer tone for what has become one of the sharpest local fronts in the UK’s 2025 arguments over migration.

The lesson from recent weeks, say those working closest to asylum seekers, is that managing visible symbols matters. On August 6, 2025, a protest and a counter-protest brought Aberdeen to a standstill outside a single hotel. Since then, at least seven people have been charged with offences linked to hate crimes. In response, councils such as Tower Hamlets have stripped flags from public lampposts, and Aberdeen leaders have urged a crackdown on displays that appear designed to provoke. In the count of outcomes so far, the numbers are simple: two arrests under the Hate Crime Act on the day, one assault charge added, five further hate-crime charges later, and a city still searching for a way to balance protest, safety, and respect for those seeking refuge.