"There is documented violence on both sides of the border including beatings on the Polish side. There are dog attacks, gender based violence and lack of food on the Belarusian side. It is a cycle of abuse with each side contributing to the suffering of these people", said Dominika Ozynska, Oxfam.

"Pushbacks are well-documented - they happen in front of police stations & in public areas. This highlights the Greek authorities' impunity... & despite all the evidence of pushbacks, the Greek authorities deny it, and the EU turns a blind eye," said Alkistis Agrafioti of Greek Council for Refugees.

People vote for a myriad of reasons, but it's only a relatively small proportion who vote primarily to harm others, majority vote to benefit themselves. That's why blame game politics are so successful, "look over there at this magic bullet to solve all your problems. It's all that group's fault" 3/

This is amplified by certain areas of the media, especially those who in the interests of "balance" will give equal weight between hard evidence and unhinged opinions. The thing is that, currently, racism and bigotry aren't actually "mainstream public opinion". They remain a vocal minority. 2/