Blindness charity tells anti-migrant protesters they’re ‘not the lifeboat people’ after RNIB mistaken for RNLI

Anti-immigrant protesters have been directing abuse at the UK’s leading blind people’s charity, accusing it of helping small boat migrants after mistaking it for RNLI.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) reminded people that they’re “not the lifeboat people” amid threats to the RNLI in the wake of anti-migrant protests in Portsmouth and Dover this month.

Volunteers at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution have been targetedby far-right demonstrators for the charity’s rescue work bringing some small boat migrants ashore.

RNIB said: “For absolute certainty, we're the Royal National Institute of Blind People, not the lifeboat people.

“But here’s something we’re sure we can all agree on. RNLI are brave and brilliant. Behind accounts like theirs and ours are real people and words matter. So, maybe give the RNLI and us a reason to smile today.”

The charity told The Independent that confusion between the organisations does arise online at times.

It issued a similar reminder last month that “the 'B' in our name isn't for boats” and in another post, the charity said: “This is your friendly reminder that we don’t own a single lifeboat.”

Responding to the comment, RNLI joked: “This is also your friendly reminder that we can’t give you eye-health advice...”

Last week, one Facebook user accused RNIB of “deliberately overfilling our great country with illegals.”

Another user previously commented on the charity’s Facebook: “I’ll not give you a penny until you stop bringing illegal immigrants into our country.”

Just less than two weeks ago, RNLI’s lifeboat operation helped bring 140 people to safety after they were rescued from a single dinghy that had crossed the English Channel from France.

The charity has since harassed by protesters, with Sussex Police launching an investigation after volunteers had their photos, full names and home addresses leaked.

It was forced to issue security advice to its volunteers, who were labelled as “traitors” and subjected to physical and online abuse.

Lisa Nandy has told the charity that she will raise online threats and so-called doxxing in talks with social media platforms.

The digital secretary said she was “shocked and saddened” to see volunteers targeted and would consider further action “to stamp out this practice.”

RNLI chief executive Peter Sparkes has slammed those who “hide behind a balaclava or a keyboard” and whose “action is wholly unacceptable”.

Last week, anti-immigrant protesters also staged a demonstration at a hotel in Portsmouth after mistaking a Pakistani cricket team for asylum seekers.

A crowd of up to 50 people gathered outside the four-star Marriott hotel, wrongly believing that “four coach loads” of migrants were being taken there just days after asylum seekers were taken ashore in the Hampshire city.