ITV News Reporter Sam Holder has filmed with an underground network of people who say they’ve faced threats of extreme violence for trying to help migrants being housed in Crowborough, East Sussex.
They meet in secret locations, blinds drawn.
Anyone attending has to be verified before being allowed to come.
At this meeting, around 50 volunteers have turned up, including more than 15 new recruits. Men and women ranging in age from their seventies to their twenties.
Operating clandestinely because they say they’ve been branded ‘traitors’ by their opponents and threatened with violent repercussions, including acid attacks and rape.
The reason: they are a pro-migrant group in the deeply divided town of Crowborough.
The government is planning to move more than 500 asylum seekers into a former army camp on the edge of the small Sussex town. The camp will house the migrants – all men – while a decision is made about their asylum applications.
It’s a controversial move that has led to a split amongst residents in Crowborough.
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