Pakistan U19 cricketers mistaken for asylum seekers by protesters in UK

Pakistan’s Under-19 cricket team has found itself at the centre of an anti-migrant protest in the United Kingdom after a group of masked protesters mistook the players for asylum seekers and gathered outside the team’s hotel.

Protesters in Portsmouth gathered outside the Marriott on Tuesday night, believing busloads of asylum seekers were being brought to the four-star hotel, only to be told that it was Pakistan’s U-19 cricket team on tour.

British media first reported the incident, and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed that it was reviewing the team’s security for the remainder of the tour and had reached out to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Al Jazeera reached out to the PCB but did not receive a comment.

Sumair Syed, PCB’s chief operating officer, told the BBC that the team reported people “knocking on their doors” during the incident, but the players “behaved responsibly and didn’t escalate the situation”.

The team continued with their scheduled match the following day, which they won by 177 runs.

Syed described the incident as “unfortunate” but said he was in contact with the ECB, which had “assured us that every possible measure should be taken for the security of the escort”.

“This is the responsibility of the whole sport to ensure the safety, security and wellbeing of the visiting team,” he said. “They are on it, and we are hopeful that nothing of such sort will happen in the future.”

Tuesday’s incident at the hotel comes in the wake of anti-migrant protests in Portsmouth earlier in the week.

British media reported that hundreds of protesters clashed with the police in Portsmouth on Sunday evening after a dinghy carrying asylum seekers was brought into the UK.

Reform county councillor George Madgwick, who was called to mediate the incident on Tuesday night, has repeatedly defended those protesting against the arrival of migrants in the UK.

“The left are losing their minds that a handful of people went to a hotel, by accident, when they thought migrants had been bussed in. Once they discovered it was incorrect they left swiftly. Literally nothing happened,” he wrote in a post on X on Wednesday night.

“If Labour fixed the small boat crisis this issue would stop,” Madgwick went on to say.

Madgwick did not respond when contacted by Al Jazeera.