LONDON: The UK government on Thursday (Aug 28) urged a court to lift a ban on housing asylum seekers at a protest-hit hotel, warning the injunction risked setting a precedent that could undermine its duty to accommodate vulnerable migrants.
The Court of Appeal is hearing the government’s challenge to a High Court ruling issued earlier this month, which gave authorities until Sep 12 to remove asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel in Epping, northeast London.
The case has dealt a political and logistical blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government, with more than 32,000 asylum seekers already housed in hotels across Britain at the end of March.
FLASHPOINT HOTEL
The Bell Hotel became a flashpoint in July when protests broke out after an Ethiopian asylum seeker staying there was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has denied the charges.
Some protests turned violent and spread to other parts of the country, prompting Epping Forest district council to sue the Home Office, arguing the site posed a risk to public safety and breached planning laws.
The Home Office and hotel owner Somani Hotels countered that the Bell had previously hosted migrants and that the protests were unrelated to planning issues.
