UK Immigration Center Firebomb Attack Declared ‘Terrorist Incident’

Members of the military and UK Border Force extinguish a fire from a petrol bomb, targeting the Border Force centre in Dover, Britain, on Oct. 30, 2022. Peter Nicholls/Reuters

UK police on Saturday declared that a recent firebomb attack on a processing centre holding immigrants smuggled into the UK was a “terrorist incident,” saying it was primarily motivated by “terrorist ideology.”

Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said evidence suggested “an extreme right-wing motivation behind the attack” while mental health was also very likely a factor.

The suspect in the firebomb attack on Oct. 30 was Andrew Leak, who was seen hurling incendiary devices at a processing centre in Dover, Kent, where people smuggled into the UK on small boats across the English Channel are first held before being transferred to other accommodations.

The 66-year-old was found dead at a nearby petrol station minutes after the attack.

There were no other mortalities from the attack. Two people in the processing centre reported minor injuries, according to Kent Police.

Following the incident, 700 people were moved to the Manston asylum processing centre near Ramsgate for safety reasons.

A man throws an object out of a car window next to the Border Force centre after a firebomb attack in Dover, Kent, England, on Oct. 30, 2022. Peter Nicholls/Reuters

In a statement published on Saturday, the CTPSE said officers had recovered evidence that indicates the attack was “motivated by a terrorist ideology.”

The specialist police unit said officers had spoken to “a number of significant witnesses” and recovered “a number of items of interest” including digital media devices.

“Evidence from examining these items suggests there was an extreme right wing motivation behind the attack,” the statement reads.

The CTPSE said there is no evidence Leak was working with anyone else and they do not believe there is a wider threat to the public.

Tim Jacques, senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said there were “strong indications that mental health was likely a factor,” but after considering the evidence, he was “satisfied that the suspect’s actions were primarily driven by an extremist ideology.”

“This meets the threshold for a terrorist incident,” he said.

Jacques said counterterrorism police are increasingly seeing individuals “who have mental health concerns and a hateful mind-set” during case work across all ideologies, and that it’s a “complex process” assessing when the terrorism threshold is crossed.

An inquest into Leak’s death is expected to be opened at Maidstone’s County Hall on Tuesday.

Small-Boat Crossings

The attack comes as the UK government struggles to stop people from clandestinely crossing from France.

Dan O’Mahoney, the Home Office’s Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, told the Home Affairs Committee on Oct. 26 that 38,000 people had crossed the channel in 936 small boats this year.

Among the small-boat arrivals are asylum seekers, who the UK government argues should have stayed in France, and many others who O’Mahoney said were “deliberately gaming the system.”

People thought to be illegal immigrants pass the car of Home Secretary Suella Braverman during her visit to the Manston migrant processing centre in Kent on Nov. 3, 2022. PA Media

Home Secretary Suella Braverman was recently criticised after the Manston processing facility was revealed to be over-capacitated, with infectious diseases breaking out. She also faced a fierce backlash for describing the situation as an “invasion.”

Since the UK’s exit from the European Union, the Dublin Regulation, which enables EU countries to return asylum seekers to the first EU country they arrived in, no longer applies to the UK. As a result, few illegal immigrants were successfully returned.

An effort to sign a new bilateral deal with France has so far been unsuccessful. The government’s attempt to put small boat arrivals on one-way flights to Rwanda has also failed so far as the first flight was grounded by the European Court of Human Rights.

Braverman, who entered the Home Office less than two months ago, has taken a hardline position on immigration control. She vowed to do “whatever it takes” to stop Channel crossings but acknowledged there are “no quick fixes” to the “chronic” problem.

Chris Summers contributed to this report.