Manchester attack: Victim's brother urges people to stop using incident to claim there is 'immigration problem'

Dan Hett, who is the brother of Martyn Hett, were born to a Muslim family

People gather to see flowers and messages of support in St Ann's Square in Manchester, northwest England on May 30, 2017, placed in tribute to the victims of the May 22 terror attack at the Manchester Arena (AFP/Getty)

The brother of one of the victims of the Manchester attack has urged people to stop using the incident to claim there is an "immigration problem".

Dan Hett, who is the brother of Martyn Hett, the 29-year-old Coronation Street "super-fan" who died in the blast, said he felt frustrated that people were using the attack to denounce immigration.

Although they are no longer religious, the siblings were born to a Turkish mother in Manchester and are originally from a Muslim family.

“As a young half-Turkish Mancunian, I’m not worlds away from this guy [Abedi],” Mr Hett told the Guardian.

“The idea that somebody would say, ‘Oh, this is an immigration problem’ frustrates me. How is this an immigration problem? A UK-born terrorist took out, among many other people, my UK-born Turkish brother … In an alternate timeline, the roles could have been reversed.”

Mr Hett, who is an artist and Bafta-winning digital developer also stressed his concerns that the attacker had been repeatedly reported to police by his peers but no action was taken.

“I find it quite hard to reconcile what Theresa May says, and on a more extreme level, talk of closing borders and putting up walls to make things go away, knowing full well Salman Abedi is a UK-born, second generation guy who probably had the same accent as me,” he said.

“…The fact [Abedi] was known for petty crimes and had been reported repeatedly by his peers and not pulled up, that’s where my – not even anger – but my confusion comes,” he added.

A total of 22 people died when Salman Abedi detonated a bomb at an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May.

Soon after the attack, US President, Donald Trump, linked the atrocity to mass immigration.

“Terrorism must be stopped in its tracks, or the horror you saw in Manchester and so many other places will continue for ever,” Mr Trump asid.

“…thousands and thousands of people pouring into our various countries and spreading.”