London
Reuters
–
Anti-immigrant protests continued across the UK on Sunday outside a hotel that houses asylum seekers. A day after police were forced to separate protesters and rebels in multiple cities as tensions over immigration policies erupted.
The immigration vote, the biggest concern among the public, has pressured Britain’s Labor Prime Minister Kiel Starmer to fulfill his pledge to end the use of hotels, which cost billions of dollars a year.
The UK has seen regular protests in recent weeks outside of asylum seekers, spurring public safety concerns in part after migrants housed in a hotel east of London were charged with sexual assault.
The demonstrations took place on Sundays nationwide, including Epping in East London, Bristol and Birmingham.
A court ruling on Tuesday ordered the removal of asylum seekers from a hotel in Epping, which became a flashpoint for anti-immigration protests. The government is planning to appeal.
Protesters gathered there again on Sunday, carrying placards waving British flags and saying “Epping Says No” and “Stop the boat.”
On Saturday, anti-immigrant protesters gathered at small gatherings in towns and cities in England, Scotland and Welsh.
Official figures on Thursday showed that asylum claims were record highs, with more immigrants being housed in hotels compared to a year ago.
Populist Reform UK Party leader, Nigel Farage, who surpassed the recent vote, has planned a massive deportation of immigrants who have crossed from mainland Europe in small boats if his party forms the next government.
He told The Times that the UK will withdraw from the European Human Rights Treaty, attack repatriation contracts with countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea, and build sites with 24,000 migrants.
On Sunday, the government said it would reform the asylum appeal process to accelerate decisions, reduce the backlog of cases and phase out the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers.
Under the plan, an independent body of judges will be created to process asylum appeals and reduce the backlog of 106,000, including 51,000 appeals, which have an average waiting time of more than a year.
Home Minister Yvette Cooper said the change was part of an effort to “restore control and order” to a system that he described as “complete disruption” when Labour took office last year.
“We can’t continue these completely unacceptable delays,” Cooper said.
