Latest news with #anti-migrant protests
The Independent
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Officials win court case to remove asylum-seekers from a UK hotel that's been the focus of protests
A hotel near London that has become the focus of heated anti-migrant protests in recent weeks will have to remove asylum-seekers who are staying there after authorities won a legal bid Tuesday to oust the migrants. Officials from the Epping Forest District Council asked a judge to issue an order to temporarily block migrants from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, due to 'unprecedented levels of protest and disruption' over asylum-seeker accommodation. Thousands of people, some chanting 'save our kids' and 'send them home," have protested near the hotel after an asylum-seeker living there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has denied charges against him and is due to stand trial later this month. The protests, which included local people as well as some members of organized far-right groups, started out peaceful but turned violent. At least nine people were arrested in connection with the demonstrations. Anti-racism demonstrators have also staged counterprotests outside the Bell Hotel and other sites. Philip Coppel, a lawyer for local officials in Epping, said the hotel's housing of asylum-seekers had provided a 'feeding ground for unrest" and community tension. A High Court judge ruled Tuesday that the hotel must stop housing asylum-seekers by Sept. 12. It wasn't immediately clear where the migrants would be moved to. Last summer, days of anti-immigrant rioting rocked towns and cities across England and Northern Ireland, triggered by the killing of three young girls at a summer dance class in Southport, northwest England. Crowds in more than two dozen towns attacked hotels housing migrants, as well as mosques, police stations and a library, driven partly by online misinformation claiming the attacker was a migrant who had arrived in the U.K. by small boat. Some rioters targeted nonwhite people and threw bricks and fireworks at police. Tensions have long simmered over the government's policy of using hundreds of hotels across the country to house migrants who are awaiting a decision on their asylum status. Critics say it costs taxpayers millions of pounds, the hotels become flashpoints in communities, and leave migrants feeling targeted by local residents.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Truth about asylum seekers in Birmingham and West Midlands amid protest fears
The number of asylum seekers living in hotels and other properties in the West Midlands has gone up slightly this year to 8,828. While there has been an increase in small boat crossings that has driven up requests, the numbers involved still represents less than half a per cent of the local population. Latest Home Office data also reveals that only a quarter of those seeking asylum in the region are in hotels, despite those being a focal point for anti-migrant protests. The majority live in shared refuges, hostels and houses operated by Home Office contractors Serco. READ MORE: Police reveal dog walker update in urgent search for missing Birmingham man The new data, for the period up to the end of March, shows the real number of asylum seekers being housed in the region. It comes in the wake of damaging protests at hotel locations around the region and country, including at hotels in Sutton Coldfield, Solihull and Wolverhampton. One asylum seeker in Wolverhampton bravely shared his experience of being on the receiving end of protestors' chants and anger, describing it as 'very fearful'. 'Ibrahim' was speaking on BBC Newsnight. More protests are planned this weekend. As at March 2025, there were 8,828 asylum seekers being supported in hotels and other accommodation across the West Midlands. This is up around 5,000 since December 2024. Of those placed in the region, 3,306 were in hotel accommodation and the rest were living in homes, hostels and specialist provision. Birmingham: 1,018 living in hotels and 1,354 in dispersed accommodation. Sandwell: 277 in hotels and 1,367 in dispersed accommodation. Dudley: 35 in hotels, 630 in dispersed accommodation Solihull: 211 in hotels, 43 in dispersed accommodation Walsall: 0 in hotels, 687 in dispersed accommodation Coventry: 329 in hotels, 1,554 in dispersed accommodation Wolverhampton: 227 in hotels, 1,013 in dispersed accommodation In 2024, 53% of all asylum applications were refused at initial decision. Refugees have also been able to enter the UK through resettlement schemes. Between 2014 and March 2025, around 34,200 Afghans had been resettled under a government scheme. In 2022 two Ukrainian resettlement schemes were launched, triggering the biggest flow of people into the UK than at any time in recent history. By March 2025, some 223,000 people had arrived in the UK through these schemes. That represents more than the total number granted refuge via all other routes and countries. In 2024, a total of 108,100 applicants sought asylum, the highest annual number ever recorded. In that year, around 53% of applications were initially refused. The biggest nationality of origin was Pakistani, followed by Afghan, according to Home Office data.
