‘Exercise due caution’: India alerts travellers to UK amid riots

Indian travellers should keep up with local news and avoid areas where protests are happening, the high commission said in the travel advisory.

The Indian high commission (embassy) in London “is closely monitoring the situation. Visitors from India are advised to stay vigilant and exercise due caution while travelling in the UK,” the high commission said.

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What led to riots in UK cities?

The stabbing of three young girls in Southport last week has been exploited by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups. Disinformation has been spread online and amplified by far-right figures, inciting unrest in various towns and cities.

The unrest began last Tuesday after claims that a suspect in Southport was a radical Islamist. Police, however, say the 17-year-old suspect, born in Britain, is not being treated as a terrorist threat. The suspect’s parents had emigrated from Rwanda.

British PM Starmer vows full force of law

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed that those targeting Muslim communities would face legal consequences.

“Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not protest, it is pure violence and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities,” Starmer said on Monday.

“The full force of law will be visited on all those who are identified as having taken part.”

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UK interior minister Yvette Cooper criticised the violence, saying it fuelled racial hatred and was an overreaction to immigration concerns. She condemned the attacks on police and described the riots as unjustified.

Protests have involved a few hundred people, leading to looting, attacks on mosques, and violence against ethnic minorities. Cars have been set on fire, and some social media videos show violent incidents.

UK police have arrested 378 people since the riots began.