Protests Against Asylum Seekers in London
There were new protests in Britain on Sunday, mostly peaceful, outside hotels housing asylum seekers, just two days after an appeals court allowed them to be accommodated in one hotel in north London.
Around 100 people gathered outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, north of the British capital, in the early evening to demand the removal of asylum seekers.
One young protester wore a shirt that read, “Send them back, please protect me,” while a boy held a sign saying, “Deport foreign criminals.”
Many demonstrators carried British and English flags.
Throughout the summer, the country has witnessed gatherings, sometimes tense, outside the Bell Hotel and several other hotels.
The unrest began after an asylum seeker was accused of attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl in Epping, a claim he denies.
The 38-year-old Ethiopian asylum seeker arrived in England by small boat across the English Channel.
The Epping council successfully obtained a temporary injunction preventing the accommodation of asylum seekers at the Bell Hotel. However, the London Court of Appeal overturned the injunction on Friday.
On Sunday, around 100 demonstrators also gathered in support of asylum seekers outside a hotel in Canary Wharf, London.
They held signs reading “Fight Racism” and “Stop the Far Right,” chanting, “Refugees welcome here.”
Anti-immigration protesters were also present.
London police stated that “a small number of masked protesters became aggressive towards pedestrians and officers,” indicating that four people were arrested.
British police arrested five individuals on Saturday after a group of masked protesters attempted to enter a hotel housing asylum seekers near Heathrow Airport in London.
At the end of June, over 32,000 asylum seekers were being accommodated in a little over 200 hotels.
The Labour government has committed to phasing out this type of accommodation by 2029 due to its high cost.
