The Epping Forest District Council just outside London has won a court case to have asylum seekers temporarily removed from a hotel, which has drawn protests for weeks after a resident asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault. However, various government bodies are planning to appeal the decision, as tensions continue to rise.
On Tuesday (August 19), Judge Stephen Eyre granted the Epping Forest District Council an interim injunction against the owner of The Bell hotel, ruling that asylum seekers should be removed from there by September 12.
The hotel's owner will, however, appeal the ruling, as he stands to lose his main source of revenue, which is paid for by the government for housing asylum seekers there.
The Home Office had tried to intervene in the case in support of the hotel owner earlier in the day, arguing that moving the migrants from The Bell hotel would "substantially impact" its ability to provide accommodation for tens of thousands of asylum seekers across Britain.
It also highlighted that the injunction would set a precedent in courts of local governments, overruling central government decisions on asylum accommodation matters.
However, the motion by the Home Office was dismissed by the judge.
Now, the government itself is reportedly considering whether and how it should appeal the court ruling, also taking into consideration that there is no back-up plan for where to move some 140 migrants who reportedly are housed at the hotel.
The Bell hotel: 'a risk to public safety'
Hundreds of protesters both in favor of and against immigration have repeatedly faced each other off outside The Bell hotel in Epping, located slightly outside of the capital, London, since an Ethiopian asylum seeker who had been housed there was charged with sexual assault and other offences last month.
The 41-year-old man has repeatedly denied the charges brought against him and is due to begin standing trial in the coming weeks.
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Meanwhile, 16 people protesting outside the hotel have also faced charges in relation to reports of criminal disorder in Epping, among reports of violence being exchanged between the two opposing political camps.
Epping Forest District Council had argued in its court case that the hotel had become a risk to public safety, adding that it was also in breach of planning laws since it was no longer being used as a hotel in the traditional sense.
Read AlsoWhat is behind the anti-migrant clashes in the UK?
Charities react to court decision
Care4Calais, an NGO that supports migrants and asylum seekers, meanwhile said that some of the residents of The Bell hotel had faced threats on the streets or had objects hurled at them since the protests outside the hotel first started.
Enver Solomon, the chief executive of UK Refugee Council, meanwhile supported the view that hotels should no longer be used for asylum seekers in Britain, suggesting that the government "partner with local councils to provide safe, cost-effective accommodation within communities" rather than making continued use of hotels.
"Ultimately, the only way to end hotel use for good is to resolve asylum applications quickly and accurately so people can either rebuild their lives here or return home with dignity," he said Tuesday.
Authorities on high alert
The issue of hotel accommodation has become a major political talking point in recent weeks once more since the case against the Ethiopian asylum seeker made headlines.
Many authorities said they feared a repeat of the riots held in northern England and elsewhere in the country last summer after three girls were murdered in Southport.
Initial misinformation circulated among racist, far-right groups in the UK falsely attributed the murder to a radical Islamist migrant.
Read AlsoUK: Are fears of a second summer of anti-migrant unrest unfounded?
Major boost for Reform UK
The court ruling appears to also have given a boost to anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage's right-wing Reform UK party.
Farage indicated that councils which are run by his party, which currently is leading in national polls, would pursue similar injunctions.
Several Reform-led councils, including Staffordshire and Northamptonshire, announced on Wednesday that they were proactively exploring similar options following the court ruling.
Farage meanwhile has called for protests outside migrant hotels elsewhere to gang up opposition to the government's migrant hotel policy.
He wrote in The Daily Telegraph newspaper that peaceful demonstrations can "put pressure on local councils to go to court to try and get the illegal immigrants out."
Read AlsoUK party leaders urged to address 'hatred' fueling anti-migrant protests
Starmer facing growing pressure
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who came into power just over a year ago, is facing increased scrutiny as the rate of migrant arrivals from across the English Channel continues to climb despite his government's introduction of various policies to dissuade people from coming to the UK.
He could theoretically face a no-confidence vote in parliament, which would unseat him personally but would not necessitate new elections.
Starmer's Labour Party still has a mandate to govern until 2029 — by which point his government has pledged that the UK will have stopped making use of hotels to house asylum seekers.
The latest government data shows that there were 32,345 asylum seekers who were currently being housed temporarily in hotels across the UK by the end of March, marking a 15 percent drop from the end of 2024.
However for some, that declining rate of hotel use for asylum seekers appears to be not swift enough.
Read AlsoUK: Hotels may continue to house asylum seekers due to backlog
with AFP, Reuters