Dozens of protests outside hotels used as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers are expected over the weekend across Britain amid mounting tensions over the issue.
Figures released on Thursday showed there were more than 32,000 asylum seekers in hotels, marking a rise of 8% during Labour’s first year in office.
Anti-migrant protests and counter-demonstrations held by Stand Up to Racism are expected on Friday and over the weekend outside hotels believed to be used to house asylum seekers, including in Bournemouth, near Cardiff airport, Leeds, Perth and Aberdeen with more expected on Saturday.
Meanwhile, councils across the country controlled by Labour, the Conservatives and Reform UK are investigating whether they could pursue legal challenges against asylum hotels.
This follows a judge granting Epping Forest council a temporary injunction on Tuesday that blocked asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell hotel in Essex.
On Friday, the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said ministers were working to close hotels housing asylum seekers “as swiftly as possible” as part of an “orderly” programme that avoids creating problems for other areas.
“That is the reason for the Home Office appeal in this case, to ensure that, going forward, the closure of all hotels can be done in a properly managed way right across the country – without creating problems for other areas and local councils,” she said.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said on Thursday that people had “every right” to protest over asylum hotels in their areas. While the number of asylum seekers rose in Labour’s first year, the new data shows they are still far below the 2023 peak, when the Conservatives were in government.
Labour has pledged to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this parliament in 2029.
Cooper said Labour had taken “crucial steps” in the past year towards this by cutting the asylum backlog and money spent on the asylum system, increasing returns of asylum seekers whose applications had failed, and overhauling appeals.
While the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels has risen, government spending on asylum in the UK is down 12%, data published on Thursday showed. The number of people waiting on an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June dropped below 100,000 for the first time in four years.
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Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation, known as contingency accommodation, if they are awaiting assessment of their claim or have had a claim approved and there is not enough longer-term accommodation available.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office – which has a legal obligation to provide accommodation to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute – can move people to alternatives such as hotels and large sites such as former military bases.
Refugee support organisations have been forced to install safe rooms in their premises, relocate to less visible sites and, in some cases, close their offices in response to the threat of far-right violence.
Half of the NGOs and charities supporting people seeking refuge have faced threats, a “hostile environment” of protest, and safety concerns since the riots of 2024, according to research documents seen by the Guardian.
