The Bell Hotel, in Epping, on the outskirts of London, does not receive new reservations, but is full every night. Since 2020, it has been used by the British government to host the thousands of asylum applicants who arrive every year to the southern coast of England and are trapped in an administrative limbo.
With the exception of hoteliers, no one is satisfied with the current system: neither the government and the municipalities, who have to shell out large sums to pay profitable contracts; Neither the asylum applicants, who may spend years living in a small room waiting to know if they can remain in the UK; And, more recently, in the case of the Epping Hotel, nor the local residents, some of which say they feel insecure with groups of young people living in the city.
From time to time, these complaints explode. In Epping, the breakage point came last month after an Ethiopian asylum applicant was accused of sexually assaulting a student on the city’s main street. He was also accused of other crimes and awaits trial. Denies all accusations.
Many residents were outraged. Some performed protests in front of the hotel – fed by the far right – which became violent.
But protesters had reasons to celebrate on Tuesday, when the municipality won a historic lawsuit that will prevent the owners of the Bell Hotel de Aljar asylum applicants after the House has claimed that the hotel was not being used for its original purpose. The 138 people who live there will have to leave next month.
The court ruling put this three -star hotel at the center of a political storm that could cause huge headache to the labor government. The fate of these asylum applicants is now one of the most thorny problems for Prime Minister Keir Stmerer.
But for Nigel Farage, the incendiary leader of the far-right party reform UK, the decision was a source of celebration.
Farage, once the driving force of the Brexit movement and now deputy, applauded what he called “great victory”. It has called for similar protests in front of migrant hotels across the country to “press municipalities to resort to courts” to try to prevent other hotels from being used to housing asylum applicants, with demonstrations in various British locations.
If municipalities throughout the UK decide to adopt the same judicial way, this may create a major problem for the government, which has a legal obligation to provide accommodation for asylum applicants while their requests are processed. Currently, about 210 hotels are being used to host about 32,000 people. If other municipalities overcome cases similar to Epping, the government may, within a few months, have to find other solutions to housing these people while the processes continue to drag on.
Protesters gathered in front of the Bell Hotel in July. Isabel Infantes/Reuters
Some displayed posters with the phrase “save our children.” Henry Nichols/AFP/Getty Images
A turning point
Mohamed Khador took three years from Somalia to the United Kingdom. The longest period that spent somewhere was in Austria, where he worked briefly as a kitchen helper, but most of the time was on the move. When he arrived in Dunquerque, in northern France, he had spared about a thousand dollars. It was enough to buy a place in a degraded boat with about 70 people, hoping to see the white cliffs of England soon. The canal crossing was “scary, painful, cold,” says CNN.
When he arrived four months ago, he was taken to a processing center. Since then, it has lived at the Bell Hotel, unable to work legally – asylum applicants have been deprived of the right to work in 2002 as part of the British government attempts to dissuade illegal immigration.
At first things were “normal,” he says. While the places played cricket, he played soccer with other residents of the hotel. “We went to the street. No one called.”
Then came what he calls “the incident,” which seems to have become a point of reference in the city’s collective memory.
In July, 38-year-old Hadush Kebatu from Ethiopia was accused of sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl involving her sexual activity. She was 14 years old.
Eddie and Elaine, a couple who have lived in the area for 15 years and who did not want to give the nickname, explain that the last few weeks have marked a turning point after years of relative calm.
“This summer was the worst of all, with the problems,” says Elaine. “No one really thinks it is a good idea to have 150 men in a place in a place in a corner of the city, right next to a school.”
The day after the court ruling, many inhabitants made a point of showing their feelings. Dozens of people drove in front of the Bell Hotel, honking in celebration. Others shouted “out stmerus” and, “It was no longer without time, get us out of here.” There was also shouts of “Niiigel”, in support of Farage, one of the few British politicians the public deals with by the first name.
For Khador, “The Incident” also changed everything. He said they have already shot him beer cans when he went to the local store; Others scream “scum” when they drive.
“They say we are innocent even proof to the contrary. This is the opposite. It’s like we were guilty to the contrary proof. At this time, you are just an immigrant. Therefore, you are guilty.”
Residents say the “incident” in July triggered a wave of indignation. Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images
“Our streets”
The road that connects the city center to the Bell Hotel has been covered with the white and red colors of the São Jorge de England flag in the last two weeks.
“I think it’s great,” says a passerby. “These are our streets.”
However, there are those who are discreetly concerned about these manifestations of nationalism, fearing they can assume an ugly side. This man told CNN, not wanting to be quoted because, if he expressed support for migrants, he was afraid to become the target of protesters who, in recent nights, concentrated in front of the hotel.
“It’s a small town. People talk. Everyone knows where everyone lives,” he explains.
Although Farage has appealed to “peaceful” demonstrations throughout the UK, recent protests were not always peaceful.
Last summer, the United Kingdom watched protests that departed on violence and open racism, when misinformation helped feed anti-immigration riots across the country. The murder of three girls in Southport in northern England during a Taylor Swift -themed yoga class in July led to widespread disorders with dozens of arrests. In one case, the protesters set fire to a hotel that served to accommodate asylum applicants, with people inside.
Far-right activists were accused of using social networking platforms to spread misinformation, notably claiming that the Southport striker was an immigrant who had illegally entered the UK. In fact, the perpetrator was a teenager born in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, son of Rwanda migrants.
Since the Labor Party came to power last summer, about 38,000 people have arrived in small boats; Below the peak recorded in 2022, but even more than one third above the previous year. Many of these were housed in hotels.
Recent policies, such as the agreement “one by one” with France, cannot solve the central problem: thousands of people continue to risk life every year.
Frustration with the high levels of immigration, along with discontent by the weak economic performance of the United Kingdom, has been fertile ground for nativism.
“We are a small country,” says Eddie. “We can only absorb to some extent before it completely changed our environment. But we actually grew here – for our parents, after World War II”.
Asked where he thinks they should be sent the Bell Hotel guests, he said: “We thought there should probably be fields prepared for the purpose. They had years to think about it… they should be building some fields to absorb the flow and deal with them.”
Safety railings surround the Bell Hotel, with security guards on duty at the atrium day and night. Carl Court/Getty Images
The Interior Ministry announced on Friday that it will appeal the court’s ruling, saying that the government is committed to ending all the hotels of asylum applicants by 2029, but wants to do so “managed and orderly.” Earlier, he had already warned that the decision would “substantially impact” his ability to accommodate asylum applicants in Hotels in the UK.
These impacts should increase further as other municipalities evaluate whether they should advance with similar legal challenges. Farage stated that the ten municipalities governed by reform UK will do “everything in their reach” to get similar decisions. Even some labor municipalities announced plans of the same genre.
At the Bell Hotel, all 80 rooms that host 138 people will have to be emptied until the night of September 12.
For Khador, the young Somali, this probably means many more months before power, as he sees, starting his life.
“I just want to prove that I am not a criminal. Proving that I can contribute. I’m not a profiteer,” he says.
But, be it in another hotel or in a different type of accommodation, little difference makes. “It will be the same anywhere,” he says.
