The British government yesterday won a court ruling that means asylum seekers will not have to be evicted from a hotel where a resident was charged with sexual assault, a decision that could ignite more protests and criticism from opponents.
Immigration has now become the dominant political issue in Britain, eclipsing concerns over a faltering economy, as the country faces a record number of asylum claims and arrivals by migrants in small boats across the Channel, including more than 28,000 this year.
Last week, London’s High Court granted an injunction to stop asylum seekers being housed in the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, about 30 km northeast of the capital, which had become a focal point of sometimes violent demonstrations after an Ethiopian asylum seeker living there was charged with sexual offences.
But yesterday, the Court of Appeal upheld the government’s appeal against that ruling, which had been made on planning grounds, and lifted the temporary injunction which would have led to the asylum seekers being evicted.
While the court victory will ease the headache of immediate, widespread hotel closures, it opens up the Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his ministers to accusations from his main political opponents that he is siding with asylum seekers over the fears of local people.
“Keir Starmer has shown that he puts the rights of illegal immigrants above the rights of British people who just want to feel safe in their towns and communities,” Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, said in a statement.
The government had argued the injunction would lead to further protests across the country seeking to force the immediate closure of hotels, and putting pressure on the system to house asylum seekers waiting to have their cases determined.
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