logo
UK police arrest 6 after protesters descend on a hotel housing asylum seekers

UK police arrest 6 after protesters descend on a hotel housing asylum seekers

Arab News21-07-2025
LONDON: A town on the outskirts of London was rocked by protesters who descended on a hotel housing asylum seekers for the second time in four days on Sunday night, amid anger about a migrant accused of sexual assault.
Police in the town of Epping said they arrested six people on Sunday, including four suspected of involvement in 'violent disorder' during the previous demonstration on Thursday. Officers patrolled the area around the Bell Hotel throughout the night after issuing an order for the crowds to disperse.
Chanting 'Save our kids' and 'Send them home,' more than 100 demonstrators, some brandishing British flags, gathered outside the hotel Sunday evening. The protests escalated as night fell, with flares and projectiles thrown toward police vans blocking the entrance. Police escorted a counter-protester from the area after demonstrators surrounded her.
'Disappointingly we have seen yet another protest, which begun peacefully, escalate into mindless thuggery with individuals again hurting one of our officers and damaging a police vehicle,' Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow of the Essex Police said in a statement. 'For anyone who thinks we will tolerate their thuggery – think again.'
The protests come amid escalating tensions over the rising number of asylum seekers who are being housed at government expense in hotels around the country. Those pressures flared into days of rioting last month in Northern Ireland after two teenagers were arrested on charges of sexual assault.
Violent anti-immigrant protests spread throughout the UK last summer after social media users spread misinformation about the identity of the person who attacked a dance class in the northwestern town of Southport, killing three young girls. The attacker was a 17-year-old who was born in the UK born in the UK to parents from Rwanda, not an asylum seeker as had been rumored.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned last year's riots as 'far-right thuggery' as police intervened to stop the violence and expedited the sentencing of those convicted of taking part.
Before Sunday's protests in Epping, local police issued an order that allowed them to force demonstrators to remove face coverings. The later issued an order for the demonstrators to leave the area around the hotel. That dispersal order remained in effect until 4 a.m. Monday.
The demonstration came after eight police officers were injured on Thursday after a peaceful protest outside the hotel escalated into violence. Police blamed the violence on people from outside the community who 'arrived at the scene intent on causing trouble.'
Four of those detained on Sunday were arrested in connection with events that happened during the initial protest, police said. A fifth was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage to a police car, while the sixth was arrested for being equipped to cause criminal damage.
The protests began after a 38-year-old asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault after allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl. The man is being held without bail after he had his first court appearance on July 10. He denies the charges.
'We don't take sides, we arrest criminals and we have a duty to ensure no-one is hurt — plain and simple,″ Anslow said. 'I know the people of Essex know what we're about so I know they won't believe the rubbish circulating online that is designed to do nothing more than inflame tensions and trouble.''
Epping Forest District Council, which provides local government services in the area, condemned the violence but said it had long opposed the central government's decision to use the Bell Hotel to house asylum seekers.
'We have consistently shared concerns with the Home Office that the Bell Hotel is an entirely unsuitable location for this facility and should close,' council Leader Chris Whitbread said in a statement last week. 'We continue to press Home Office officials for the immediate closure of the site and are encouraged that our local MPs are now actively supporting our call.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

UK's Starmer, Ukraine's Zelenskiy Welcome Trump's Deadline for Russia
UK's Starmer, Ukraine's Zelenskiy Welcome Trump's Deadline for Russia

Asharq Al-Awsat

time5 hours ago

  • Asharq Al-Awsat

UK's Starmer, Ukraine's Zelenskiy Welcome Trump's Deadline for Russia

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed on Friday US President Donald Trump's new deadline for Russia to make progress towards ending its more than three-year-long war. "Both leaders welcomed the President's new deadline on Russia to stop their stalling tactics and make meaningful progress on a peace deal," a Downing Street spokeswoman said on Friday, following a call between the two. "It was clear Russia was the only barrier to peace, the leaders agreed.

Six new arrests over Serbian train station disaster
Six new arrests over Serbian train station disaster

Arab News

time13 hours ago

  • Arab News

Six new arrests over Serbian train station disaster

BELGRADE: Six people, including a former minister, were arrested in Serbia on Friday over a train station disaster in which 16 people died. The concrete canopy of the newly renovated station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on November 1, 2024 and was widely blamed on corruption and poor oversight. It sparked a wave of student-led protests and led to the resignation of prime minister Milos Vucevic and the fall of his government. The public prosecutor's office in Novi Sad opened an investigation into the accident and deaths. In February, the public prosecutor's office for organized crime opened another probe into the corruption aspect of the case and Friday's arrests were linked to this. The six, all suspected of abuse of office, include former construction, transport and infrastructure minister Tomislav Momirovic as well as former acting director of the state-run Serbian Railway Infrastructure company Nebojsa Surlan, prosecutors said. They said nine other people, including former transport minister Goran Vesic who was among the first to resign after the accident, were being sought. According to the news site, Vesic was hospitalized and underwent emergency surgery on Friday. Two companies — China Railway International and China Communications Construction (CRI-CCC) — as well as France's Egis and Hungary's Utiber were in charge of the railway station works. According to the prosecutor's office, the two former ministers and three other suspects enabled CRI — CCC to charge more than $1.2 billion for work and then carry out additional work worth more than $64 million. This enabled CRI-CCC to obtain an 'illegal financial gain' of more than $18 million, the statement said. Since the accident, protests have been growing across Serbia, with some bringing hundreds of thousands of people to the streets to demand a transparent investigation and early elections. A new protest was due on Friday evening in the capital Belgrade to commemorate nine months since the accident.

Heathrow unveils £49 bn expansion plan for third runway
Heathrow unveils £49 bn expansion plan for third runway

Al Arabiya

time14 hours ago

  • Al Arabiya

Heathrow unveils £49 bn expansion plan for third runway

London's Heathrow Airport on Friday unveiled a £49 billion ($65 billion) expansion plan, including the costs of building a long-awaited third runway, approved by the UK government after years of legal wrangling. The runway would cost £21 billion, with flights expected to take off within a decade, while the rest of the privately funded investment will go toward expanding and modernizing the airport. Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport by passenger numbers, said the expansion would provide at least 30 new daily routes, more domestic connections and improved flight times. The increased capacity would almost double the number of annual passengers from 84 million currently to up to 150 million passengers annually. 'It has never been more important or urgent to expand Heathrow,' said chief executive Thomas Woldbye. 'We are effectively operating at capacity to the detriment of trade and connectivity,' he added. Despite fierce opposition from environmentalists and local residents, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and some Labour MPs, the Labour government backed the new runway in January in a bid to boost UK economic growth. It would be a rare expansion in Europe, where countries are split between efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the needs of a strategic sector that has seen demand grow. Heathrow has submitted its proposal for the 3,500-meter runway to the UK government, which has also invited a rival proposal. Heathrow's proposal includes £12 billion to fund a new terminal and £15 billion for modernization. 'A third runway and supporting infrastructure can be ready within a decade, and the full investment across all terminals would take place over the coming decades,' Heathrow said in a statement. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is determined to deliver major infrastructure projects to revive the UK economy that has struggled to take off since the party came to power a year ago. The government is expected to also back expansion at Gatwick Airport, south of the capital, in October — having recently approved upgrades to London's Stansted, Luton and City airports. Britain's Supreme Court ruled at the end of 2020 that Heathrow could build the third runway, overturning a legal decision to block construction on environmental grounds. Local residents 'will see their lives put on hold for a few more years while more money and time is wasted on a doomed scheme,' said Douglas Parr, policy director for Greenpeace UK. He added the plans 'export more tourism wealth out of the UK in the most polluting way possible.' Arora Group, one of Heathrow's largest landowners, on Thursday said it will submit a rival bid to build a shorter third runway, promising lower costs and less disruption to local residents and the environment. 'This is the first time the government has invited a competing proposal for Heathrow expansion,' the UK-based property and hotel firm said in a statement. British Airways owner IAG's chief executive Luis Gallego said the rival bid was 'credible' as the group announced its net profit jumped 44 percent to 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in the first six months of the year on 'strong demand.' 'We always think that competition is good to improve things, and we have seen that in commercial aviation in the past,' he added. Airport-owner Heathrow's latest investment proposal comes in addition to plans to invest £10 billion over the next five years in upgrades to boost passenger numbers, which would be largely funded by higher charges on airlines.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store