Asylum hotel protests continue in UK as government plans new fast-track process
There were 32,059 asylum seekers in UK hotels by the end of June. Labour has promised to end the use of the sites by 2029
Protests continued in the United Kingdom on Sunday over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers as the government set out plans for a fast-track appeal process to speed up the removal of people with no right to be in the country.
A group of protesters, some draped in the St George’s Cross flag, gathered outside a hotel in Birmingham, while in London police stood guard at another hotel in Canary Wharf.
Ministers hope the overhaul of the asylum appeal process will make it easier to get people out of hotels and on planes out of the UK.
After protests on Saturday across the UK which resulted in at least 15 arrests, demonstrations continued on Sunday.
In Birmingham protesters peered in through the doors of the hotel and one was seen scaling a ladder to hang a flag on a lamp post by the hotel’s sign.
At Canary Wharf, police officers stood at the entrance to the Britannia Hotel while security guards could also be seen standing behind full-length barriers that blocked off the entrance.