Protestors in UK Clash Over Use of Hotels for Housing Asylum Seekers
- Human Rights Research Center
- Aug 26
- 5 min read
Author: Vera Rousseff
August 26, 2025
HRRC supports the right of asylum seekers to receive adequate accommodation and a quick decision on their asylum case. The UK government must find a solution for housing asylum seekers that does not place excessive strain on local communities while also protecting the rights of those seeking asylum.
On Saturday, protestors and counter-protestors in various cities around the United Kingdom faced off over the use of hotels for housing asylum seekers. Protestors demanded that the government stop housing asylum seekers in hotels, while anti-racist counter-protestors responded with their own demonstrations. In some instances, police intervened to keep the groups apart.
The protests come less than a week after the UK’s High Court issued a temporary injunction that blocked a hotel in Epping, Essex from housing asylum seekers in hotel rooms. The injunction was granted last Tuesday following weeks of protests around the hotel, known as The Bell, where an asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting a local schoolgirl. The asylum seekers currently living in the hotel must be moved to alternative accommodation by September 12.
The UK’s Home Office is seeking to appeal against the ruling, which they warn could hinder their ability to house asylum seekers. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed the government’s commitment to eventually closing all asylum hotels, but emphasized that it needs to be done in “a properly managed way." In a statement regarding the ruling, Cooper argued that the government is working to close the hotels "as part of an orderly, planned, and sustained program that avoids simply creating problems for other areas or local councils as a result of piecemeal court decisions or a return to the kind of chaos which led to so many hotels being opened in the first place."
Some of the protests surrounding asylum hotels have been staged by far-right or white nationalist groups. Since 2020, these groups have been regularly publicizing the locations of the hotels and filming their occupants. Police were called in several instances where extremists were caught filming and harassing migrants at the hotels. The recent protests in Epping, where The Bell Hotel is located, were organized through a self-proclaimed “community organization” on Facebook. Three out of its four administrators are members of a white nationalist group known as the Homeland Party.
Far-right groups aside, many are frustrated with the government’s ineffective response to the issue of asylum hotels. They argue that the government has been promising to close the hotels for years with no real results, and that, in the meantime, local communities are under strain. Even asylum seekers are dissatisfied with the arrangement. One asylum seeker, Mohammed, who lives at The Bell Hotel told the BBC that he would rather see the hotels close and asylum seekers be allowed to find jobs and support themselves. The asylum seekers housed in the hotel are kept in administrative limbo without the right to work, which Mohammed says causes tension among the occupants. With no jobs, nothing to do, and no guarantee of becoming a legal resident, stressed asylum seekers who have been at the hotel for a long time sometimes end up fighting with each other or causing problems for the community.
The Bell Hotel has been used by the UK government to house asylum seekers since 2020. The government is obligated by British law to provide housing for asylum seekers while their applications are being considered. Until 2020, the government worked with private contractors to provide the asylum seekers with houses and apartments across the UK, with hotels only being used as a temporary contingency measure. Starting in 2020, however, a combination of factors led to more frequent use of hotels. One reason is a larger backlog of asylum cases, due to a rapid increase in the number of asylum seekers coupled with a slowdown in the processing of asylum claims.
The government has made some progress in reducing the number of people housed in asylum hotels. Since the Labour party came to power last July, the number of asylum seekers living in hotels has fallen from 50,500 to 32,300. However, last weekend’s intense demonstrations show that the issue remains highly contentious. The question of what to do about asylum hotels, and how to accommodate asylum seekers in general, is complicated from every angle. It might be easy for progressives to accuse those protesting against asylum hotels of being racist or anti-migrant—and in some instances that is certainly the case—but the disruption these hotels cause for local communities is an undeniable reality. Meanwhile, many asylum seekers simply want a quick decision on their asylum case so that they can work and support themselves. On a deeper level, it is important to remember that many of the conflicts around the world forcing people to seek asylum have roots in colonialism, exploitation, and foreign intervention inflicted on those countries by the West. The UK government must find a housing solution that minimizes the impact on local communities while also protecting the rights of asylum seekers.
Glossary
Accommodation: temporary or permanent housing provided for people to live in.
Appeal: a legal process in which a higher court is asked to review and possibly overturn a lower court’s decision.
Asylum: protection granted by a country to people fleeing persecution or danger in their home country.
Asylum seeker: a person who has applied for asylum in another country but whose request has not yet been decided.
Backlog: an accumulation of unfinished tasks or cases, often due to delays in processing.
Colonialism: the practice of acquiring and maintaining control over another country, exploiting it economically, and often settling it with people from the colonizing country.
Contingency measure: a temporary solution put in place to deal with an urgent or unexpected situation.
Counter-protestor: a person who demonstrates in opposition to another protest or group of protestors.
Extremists: individuals or groups who hold radical views far outside mainstream political, social, or religious norms, and who may advocate for or use extreme measures (sometimes including violence) to achieve their goals.
Far-right: a political position or movement characterized by extreme conservative, nationalist, or authoritarian views, often opposing immigration, multiculturalism, and progressive social policies.
Foreign intervention: involvement by one country in the political, military, or economic affairs of another country.
High Court: a senior court in the United Kingdom that handles serious civil cases and appeals from lower courts.
Hinder: to make it difficult for something to happen or for someone to do something; to obstruct or delay progress.
Home Office: the UK government department responsible for immigration, security, law and order, and related matters.
Injunction: a legal order issued by a court that requires someone to do or refrain from doing something.
Limbo (administrative limbo): a state of uncertainty in which progress cannot be made, often because an official decision is delayed.
Local council: a local government authority in the UK responsible for providing services and governance in a specific area.
Migrant: a person who moves from one place to another, especially to find work or better living conditions.
Obligated: required by law, contract, or duty to do something.
Ruling: a formal decision made by a court.
White nationalist: a person or movement that believes white people constitute a distinct nation and advocates for maintaining or creating a society dominated by white people, often linked to racist and xenophobic ideologies.
