Protest-hit UK town wins bid to empty asylum-seeker hotel
The high court judge approved a request by the local authority in Epping, northeast of London, for a temporary injunction to stop migrants from being housed at the Bell Hotel.
The ruling, which came after the interior ministry was unsuccessful in trying to dismiss the case, raises questions about the government's ability to provide accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees.
It also comes as Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces serious political heat from the hard-right Reform UK party for failing to stop irregular migrants crossing the Channel to England on small boats.
Protests broke out in Epping in July after an asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, which he denies.
Since then hundreds of people have taken part in protests and counter-protests outside the Bell Hotel. Further anti-immigration demonstrations also spread to London and around England.
The council argued that putting the migrants in the Bell Hotel presented a 'clear risk of further escalating community tensions.'
It sought an injunction that would mean the hotel's owners, Somani Hotels Limited, must remove asylum seekers from the property within 14 days.
Judge Stephen Eyre granted the interim order, but gave the owners until September 12 to stop housing the migrants.
He issued his judgment after lawyers for the Home Office claimed that approving the request would 'substantially impact' its ability to provide accommodation for asylum seekers across the UK.
Police say there have been at least six protests in Epping since July 17, with officers and vehicles attacked during some of the demonstrations.
Several men appeared in court on Monday charged with violent disorder over the protests.
Starmer has vowed to slash the number of migrants and asylum seekers in Britain, as well as reduce legal migration, to stave off pressure from the far-right Reform party, led by Brexit-leader Nigel Farage and riding high in polls.
More than 50,000 people have made the dangerous crossing from northern France in rudimentary vessels since Starmer became UK leader last July.
Labour has pledged to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers before the next election, likely in 2029, in a bid to save billions of pounds.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
32 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
UK faces more protests and legal action after asylum seekers hotel injunction
The British government policy of housing thousands of asylum seekers in hotels was facing severe pressure on Wednesday, as opponents leapt on a court ruling to call for protests and legal action to have them all evicted. According to a regular tracker of voters' concerns, immigration has overtaken the economy as the biggest issue amid anger over record numbers of asylum seekers arriving in small boats across the Channel, including more than 27,000 this year. On Tuesday, the High Court in London granted a temporary injunction to stop asylum seekers from being housed in the Bell Hotel in Epping, about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of London in the county of Essex. The hotel had become a focal point for regular protests after a resident was charged with sexual assault, a crime he denies, with large numbers of police separating anti-immigration protesters and pro-immigration groups. The injunction in the Epping case centered around a specific planning issue and could be reversed when the case is heard in full later this year. But other councils said they would also urgently seek legal advice on evicting asylum seekers from hotels in their areas. Nigel Farage, the leader of the populist Reform Party which is leading in opinion polls, said all the 12 local authorities his party controlled would do everything in their power to do so. 'Let's hold peaceful protests outside the migrant hotels, and put pressure on local councils to go to court to try and get the illegal immigrants out; we now know that together we can win,' Farage wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper. 'No doubt we will be attacked as 'far Right' provocateurs for daring to suggest that people follow the lead of Epping's parents and residents by protesting peacefully.' Asylum hotels Britain currently houses about 30,000 asylum seekers who are awaiting decisions on their claims in more than 200 hotels across the country and, although the government has said it intended to close all of these by 2029, it now faces a major headache if others are able to follow Epping's lead. In the court hearing, the Home Office (interior ministry) said the injunction would have a 'substantial impact' on the government's ability to comply with its legal duty to provide accommodation, and security minister Dan Jarvis said they would look closely at the decision and whether to appeal it. 'The big challenge remains, which is, we need to process asylum claims much more speedily and much more effectively than was the case previously,' Jarvis told BBC TV. Critics say that housing asylum seekers in hotels, often young men who are not allowed to work, puts the local community at risk, and point to recent incidents such as in Epping and other locations where some migrants have been accused of serious crimes including the rape and sexual assault of young girls. They also contrast the facilities provided to migrants in hotels with the difficulties many in Britain are facing with rising living costs and shortages of affordable housing. However, pro-migrant groups say far-right groups and opportunistic politicians are deliberately seeking to exploit and enflame tensions for their own ends. Across Europe governments have struggled with how to house asylum seekers, with far-right and anti-migrant groups in France also leading protests against dedicated centers in recent years. During riots in Britain last year, hotels containing migrants were attacked when unrest involving some far-right supporters erupted after misinformation that the murderer of three girls in Southport was a radical Islamist migrant.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Member of Irish rap group Kneecap appears at UK court on terrorism charge
LONDON: A member of Irish rap group Kneecap was welcomed by hundreds of supporters as he arrived at a London court on Wednesday, charged with a terrorism offense for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah. Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who was initially charged under the Anglicized name Liam O'Hanna and whose stage name is Mo Chara, is alleged to have waved the flag of the banned militant group Hezbollah during a Kneecap gig in London in November 2024. The 27-year-old was charged in May under the Terrorism Act, under which it is a criminal offense to display an article in a way which arouses reasonable suspicion that someone is a supporter of a proscribed organization. Wednesday's hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court is expected to deal with Óg Ó hAnnaidh's argument that the charge was brought too late and should be thrown out, failing which he is likely to formally enter a plea. Belfast-based Kneecap, who rap in Irish and English and regularly display pro-Palestinian messages during their gigs, previously said the flag had been thrown on stage and described the charge as an attempt to silence them. The group – who rap about Irish identity and support the republican cause of uniting Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland – have been increasingly vocal about the war in Gaza since Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged. Kneecap led a 30,000-strong crowd at Glastonbury Festival in June in chants against Prime Minister Keir Starmer and accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza, which Israel denies.
Al Arabiya
5 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Kneecap rapper due in court over terror charges for Hezbollah support
A member of Irish rap band Kneecap was due to appear in court on Wednesday charged with a terror offence for allegedly supporting Hezbollah. Liam O'Hanna, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged in May after being accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag during a London concert in November. The hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London is expected to hear legal arguments on whether the charge falls outside a six-month time limit, a court official confirmed. Since Hezbollah was banned in the UK in 2019, it has been an offence to show support for the Iran-backed Lebanese force. Kneecap has grabbed headlines for statements denouncing the war in Gaza and against Israel. The hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London comes amid a growing controversy surrounding support for banned organizations. More than 700 people have been arrested, mostly at demonstrations, since the Palestine Action group was also outlawed in early July under the Terrorism Act 2000. The government ban on Palestine Action came into force days after it took responsibility for a break-in at an air force base in southern England that caused an estimated £7.0 million ($9.3 million) of damage to two aircraft. The group said its activists were responding to Britain's indirect military support for Israel during the war in Gaza. Supporting a proscribed group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Provocative Hundreds of fans cheered outside the central London court in June when O'Hanna, Liam Og O hAnnaidh in Gaelic, made his first appearance in June. Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the previous hearing the case was 'not about Mr O'Hanna's support for the people of Palestine or his criticism of Israel'. 'He is well within his rights to voice his opinions and his solidarity,' Bisgrove said. Instead, the prosecutor said, the case was about O'Hanna wearing and displaying 'the flag of Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist organization, while allegedly saying 'Up Hamas, up Hezbollah''. The raucous punk-rap group has said the video that led to the charge was taken out of context. Daring provocateurs to their fans, dangerous extremists to their detractors, the group's members rap in the Irish language as well as English. Formed in 2017, the group is no stranger to controversy. Their lyrics are filled with references to drugs, they have repeatedly clashed with the UK's previous Conservative government and have vocally opposed British rule in Northern Ireland. Last year, the group was catapulted to international fame by a semi-fictional film based on them that scooped multiple awards including at the Sundance festival.
