UK Sees Ongoing Anti-Migrant Protests After Government Unveils Asylum Reforms
London, August 24 (Reuters)- On Sunday, anti-migrant protests continued outside asylum seekers' lodgings in Britain after police separated protestors and counter-protesters in numerous towns over immigration rules.
The public's top concern is immigration polling, therefore British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government is under pressure to limit hotel use, which costs billions of pounds a year.
Concerns about public safety after a migrant charged with sexual assault in a hotel east of London sparked regular protests outside asylum seekers' hostels in Britain.
Bristol, Birmingham, and Epping, east of London, held Sunday protests.
A court verdict on Tuesday ordered asylum seekers removed from an Epping hotel, a hotbed for anti-immigration protests. Government will appeal
Again on Sunday, protesters waved British flags and held "Epping says no" and "Stop the boats" signs.
Anti-immigration demonstrators held minor rallies in England, Scotland, and Wales on Saturday.
On Thursday, officials reported record asylum petitions and more refugees in hotels than a year earlier.
The populist Reform UK party, which has led recent voting intention polls, promises to deport migrants who came from mainland Europe in tiny boats if it becomes the next administration.
He told The Times that Britain would leave the European Convention on Human Rights, make repatriation treaties with Afghanistan and Eritrea, and establish 24,000 migrant detention centres.
On Sunday, the administration announced plans to speed up asylum appeals, eliminate backlogs, and end hotel housing.
Plans call for an independent body of adjudicators to process asylum appeals and reduce the 106,000-case backlog, including 51,000 with average wait times over a year.
Yvette Cooper, the interior minister, said the measures were made to "restore control and order" to a system "in complete chaos" when Labour gained office last year.
"We cannot carry on with these completely unacceptable delays," added Cooper.
The public's top concern is immigration polling, therefore British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government is under pressure to limit hotel use, which costs billions of pounds a year.
Concerns about public safety after a migrant charged with sexual assault in a hotel east of London sparked regular protests outside asylum seekers' hostels in Britain.
Bristol, Birmingham, and Epping, east of London, held Sunday protests.
A court verdict on Tuesday ordered asylum seekers removed from an Epping hotel, a hotbed for anti-immigration protests. Government will appeal
Again on Sunday, protesters waved British flags and held "Epping says no" and "Stop the boats" signs.
Anti-immigration demonstrators held minor rallies in England, Scotland, and Wales on Saturday.
On Thursday, officials reported record asylum petitions and more refugees in hotels than a year earlier.
The populist Reform UK party, which has led recent voting intention polls, promises to deport migrants who came from mainland Europe in tiny boats if it becomes the next administration.
He told The Times that Britain would leave the European Convention on Human Rights, make repatriation treaties with Afghanistan and Eritrea, and establish 24,000 migrant detention centres.
On Sunday, the administration announced plans to speed up asylum appeals, eliminate backlogs, and end hotel housing.
Plans call for an independent body of adjudicators to process asylum appeals and reduce the 106,000-case backlog, including 51,000 with average wait times over a year.
Yvette Cooper, the interior minister, said the measures were made to "restore control and order" to a system "in complete chaos" when Labour gained office last year.
"We cannot carry on with these completely unacceptable delays," added Cooper.