Home Office appeals against injunction that closed asylum hotel as it could spark further protests
Home Office appeals against injunction that closed asylum hotel as it could spark further protests.
The Home Office says that the prohibition on the Essex asylum hotel will have a’serious impact’ on the UK’s ability to accommodate migrants.
Allowing a restriction on keeping asylum seekers at a protest-hit hotel might lead to further disruption and have a “serious impact” on the UK’s ability to house migrants, according to the Home Office.
The government has sought to appeal an interim High Court injunction that prevents asylum seekers from being sheltered at The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex.
Epping Forest District Council gained the temporary ban following a spate of violent anti-migrant protests that resulted in several arrests and several police officers being hurt.
The hotel owners, Somani Hotels Ltd, and the Home Office appeared before the Court of Appeal on Thursday, seeking permission to reverse the restriction, which threatens to destabilise the government’s refugee policy if more councils seek similar vetoes.
According to court filings, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stated that the injunction “essentially incentivises” other councils who want to close down migrant hotels in their areas to seek legal action, arguing that “the available asylum estate is subject to incredibly high levels of demand.”
Becca Jones, director of asylum support at the Home Office, stated that the loss of bed spaces at The Bell Hotel would be “significant” given the rise in small boat crossings and limited available accommodation.
She stated that the Home Office would “face considerable difficulties in re-accommodating them [asylum seekers] appropriately”.
Ms Cooper’s lawyers also stated that accepting Epping council’s injunction “creates a chaotic and disorderly approach”.
“The granting of an interim injunction in the present case runs the risk of acting as an impetus for further protests, some of which may be disorderly, around other asylum accommodation,” the Home Office explained to the court.
Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to move faster to close hotels after records indicated that the number of asylum seekers housed in them increased by 8% in the previous year.
In response to the High Court’s judgement last week, Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice asked local communities around the country to hold protests against hotels harbouring migrants in order to force their expulsion.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick also praised the decision, stating, “What a result for the people of Epping.” What happens now? More calm protests. More injunctions. “Starmer will only respond to pressure.”
In his decision, Mr Justice Eyre agreed with the council’s position that The Bell is no longer a hotel and thus “no longer provides a resource for dining, receptions, functions, and the like”.
He concluded that there was a valid argument for a breach of planning control.
The Home Office’s Edward Brown KC told the Court of Appeal judges on Thursday that Mr Justice Eyre’s ruling “substantially interferes” with the “national public interest… which is to ensure that vulnerable individuals, namely asylum seekers, are accommodated”.
Mr Brown stated that the home secretary has a duty to provide housing for asylum seekers who would be “potentially destitute” if they did not utilise hotels.
The Home Office argued in its submissions that the “fact of criminal wrongdoing (and local concerns arising from criminal wrongdoing) is not a sufficient reason to require the immediate closure of asylum accommodation infrastructure housing many other individuals”
. In additional remarks, Piers Riley-Smith for Somani Hotels urged the Court of Appeal to “exercise its discretion” and overturn the injunction issued last week.
He additionally stated that the “extremely high-profile nature of the issue” meant there was “risk of a precedent being set as a number of other local authorities are reported to be considering similar injunctions to address the use of hotels for asylum seekers” .
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