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Angry residents have hit out after reported anti-refugee notes were posted through their letterboxes.
The notes, which were hand-delivered to several roads in the Ashford area, reportedly complain about a nearby hotel’s housing of Afghan refugees.
Around 100 refugees are thought to currently be housed at The Holiday Inn in Hothfield while more permanent accommodation is found for them.
One Kingsnorth resident shared the note on social media with a CCTV photo of the person reported to have posted it.
Describing the note as “hateful”, he said: “I know there are many bored, tiny minded racists out there, but I find it baffling that this one took time to write a note and post it throughout my door unless she was simply informing me that the Premier Inn have some good deals for foreign tourists.”
The note reportedly read: “Just so you know, the Holiday inn is full of foreign people getting three full meals a day”.
Commenting on the Facebook post, Ashford Borough Councillor Nathan Iliffe decried the note as “utterly horrid”.
“This is clearly in reference to the Afghan Resettlement Scheme. Completely small minded behaviour,” he added.
Another commenter noted: “There are lots of foreign people working and saving lives in William Harvey Hospital as well, and thank God they are.
“We are all “foreign people” to a lesser or greater degree, even the person putting this rubbish through letter boxes,” they added.
The Home Office has taken out a long-term contract with the 92-room hotel in Maidstone Road as part of the resettlement scheme, while three Afghan households have already arrived in Ashford to be settled in the community as part of Ashford Borough Council’s wider commitment to support incoming refugees.
The authority says it is looking to increase this to take between five and 10 families, all of whom have worked with the armed forces or British government in Afghanistan.
Council leader Cllr Gerry Clarkson described the response of the people of Ashford to the Afghan crisis as “magnificent”.
He said: “Staff have been inundated with offers of help and donations of clothes, shoes, toiletries and other items which will go a long way to help the Afghan families staying at the hotel and also the families that we are looking to integrate into our local communities.
“Our hard-working staff – many of whom have volunteered to give up their time to help with the effort of organising such an enormous humanitarian task – have been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness shown by local people.
“On their behalf I’d like to thank everyone who has offered their help and given donations.”
Police have been contacted for comment.
Read more: All the latest news from Ashford
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