UK govt to challenge court block on migrant hotel
TLE DESK: The UK government said Friday (22 August) it would appeal a court ruling blocking it from housing asylum seekers in a flashpoint hotel, as public discontent grows over accommodation for migrants.
The announcement came before a wave of protests and counter-protests expected later Friday and in the coming days outside many asylum-seeker hotels around the country, reports AFP.
Latest official data showed there were 32,345 asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025 — the highest number ever.
The figures come as Prime Minister Keir Starmer struggles to stem rising support for a hard-right party led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage.
His Reform UK campaigners are tapping into anger over record numbers of undocumented migrants making the dangerous crossing of the Channel from France to England in small boats.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the government would appeal against Tuesday’s High Court decision granting a temporary injunction to stop migrants from staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping, northeast of London.
“This government will close all asylum hotels and we will clear up the mess that we inherited from the previous government,” Jarvis told broadcasters.
The policy of housing migrants in hotels was introduced by the last Conservative government, which was ousted by Starmer’s Labour Party in the July 2024 elections.
“We’ve made a commitment that we will close all of the asylum hotels by the end of this parliament, but we need to do that in a managed and ordered way,” he said.
“And that’s why we’ll appeal this decision.”
The local authority in Epping sought the court ruling following several weeks of protests outside the hotel, some of which turned violent.
The demonstrations erupted after a resident was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Protests broke out there in mid-July after Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 41, was charged. He denies the allegation and is due to stand trial later this year.
Hundreds of people have since taken part in demonstrations and counter-demonstrations outside the Bell Hotel.
Further anti-immigration demonstrations also spread to London and around England, with most passing off peacefully under a tight police presence.
Since Tuesday’s injunction, a number of councils across the country controlled by Labour, the Conservatives and Reform UK have also said they are mulling legal challenges to block the use of hotels in their areas.
More than 50,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats since Starmer became prime minister, despite his pledge to “smash the gangs” enabling the crossings.
