Protests planned outside asylum hotels this weekend

upday.com 3 godzin temu
Protesters gather outside The Bell Hotel in Epping calling for its closure amid the asylum seeker housing controversy (Illustrative image) (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images) Getty Images

Dozens of protests are expected outside asylum hotels across England this weekend as tensions mount over immigration.

Anti-migrant demonstrations and counter-protests organised by Stand Up to Racism are planned for Friday in Bournemouth, Cardiff and Leeds, with more expected on Saturday.

The demonstrations come as new figures show more than 32,000 asylum seekers are housed in hotels across the UK. This represents an 8% increase during Labour's first year in office.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Labour had taken "crucial steps" towards ending hotel accommodation by cutting the asylum backlog and increasing returns of failed asylum seekers. The Government has pledged to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers by 2029.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp (Conservative) said people had "every right" to protest over asylum hotels in their areas. The current numbers remain below the 2023 peak of over 56,000 when the Conservatives were in government.

Councils controlled by Labour, the Conservatives and Reform UK are investigating potential legal challenges against asylum hotels in their areas.

Epping Forest council has already secured a temporary High Court injunction requiring migrants to leave the Bell hotel in Essex by 12 September.

Sources used: "The Guardian", "Chronicle Live", "BBC" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.

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