Hotels asylum seekers: Protests and counter protests to be held outside asylum hotels across UK - locations
Towns and cities across the UK are braced for protests outside hotels believed to be housing asylum seekers - and counter protests at the same sites.
Action is expected to be stepped up and require heavy policing following this week’s move which saw the High Court allow an Essex council to ban immigrants from the Bell Hotel in Epping.
The controversial ruling is being appealed but other local authorities have said they will follow suit in a bid to move asylum seekers from hotels in their own areas.
Demonstrations under the Abolish Asylum System slogan will be held in major towns and cities around England, including Bristol, Exeter, Tamworth, Cannock, Nuneaton, Liverpool, Wakefield, Newcastle, Horley in Surrey and Canary Wharf in central London.
Aberdeen and Perth in Scotland and Mold in Flintshire, Wales, will also hold their own protests.
A separate batch of protests organised by Stand Up to Racism will be held in Bristol, Cannock, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Wakefield, Horley and Long Eaton in Derbyshire.
Several similar protests were held on Friday, including outside an asylum hotel in south east London.
Dozens of protesters could be heard shouting “Get them out” and “Save our children” while others held Union and England flags beside the TLK hotel in Orpington, while counter protesters, who had marched to the hotel, could be seen holding banners and Stand Up To Racism placards which read ‘Refugees welcome, Stop the far right’.
A large police cordon was formed in between the two groups and the hotel. The Metropolitan Police later confirmed that no arrests were made.
It comes after tensions around the use of the hotels for asylum seekers spiked earlier this week.
On Tuesday, the High Court granted Epping Forest District Council the temporary injunction to remove asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, from September 12.
Regular protests had been held outside the hotel in recent weeks after an asylum seeker was charged with trying to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denies.
The Government then announced plans on Friday to appeal against the High Court’s refusal to allow it to intervene in the case, and to then further appeal against the temporary injunction.
A group of other local councils also publicly announced their intentions to seek legal advice as to whether they could achieve a similar injunction for their hotels.