An issue so divisive it has upended an
entire community. Protests on both
sides, mostly peaceful, although some
not. And all because of this, a former
hotel less than a mile from the center
of town being used as a so-called asylum
hotel.
>> But no more. In Eping this evening, the
decision that will no longer be the
case. And some people felt for them it
was a celebration.
I don't do present
>> the flash point for Anise. Last month,
the alleged sexual assault of a
14-year-old girl in which an asylum
seeker from Ethiopia was charged. He's
currently awaiting trial after denying
the charges and the catalyst for
protests not just in Eping, but in
places across the country, including in
Norwich and London.
There have been reports in Essex of
asylum seekers chased down the road and
security measures have been put in place
for protection of staff and those
staying here. The Bell Hotel in Eping,
while it's no longer a hotel anymore,
and the sign outside is the only clue of
what it used to be, but the government
has previously said that it will not
stop its use as a so-called asylum
hotel. next door. Some neighbors said
the whole saga had disrupted their
lives. And so the local council went for
the back door to seek just that, saying
the hotel had breached planning rules by
becoming a site for migrant
accommodation instead of being used as
an actual hotel without the owner
seeking planning permission for that
change of use.
But drama in court today as the home
office made an 11th hour bid to
intervene, saying if an injunction was
granted by the court, it would impact on
the home secretary's statutory duties.
The judge rejected that and the decision
was made that the bell as a place for
asylum seekers to stay would close.
Everyone must leave by the 12th of
September. a decision that will likely
have repercussions across the country,
effectively upending the use of
so-called asylum hotels in local
communities.
>> The use of the Bell Bell Hotel was
always considered by ourselves not to be
a suitable location and we warned the
government of that. We warned the last
government of that and we were found to
be correct. So yes, of course, we we
only ask that Eping Forest is treated
fairly and decently.
In Eping, there are what the council
describe as unauthorized flags lining
the high street and division. Deep
division.
>> We all want them go gone. We don't want
them around here.
>> I don't really think that's fair. I
don't I don't think that's fair. I think
they they should let them in. I think
they're allowed to be there. I think I
think we should take care of like people
that are struggling or that need help
100%.
>> What do you think of the decision today
then?
>> Um I don't agree with it. I think it
would be lovely not to have the
demonstrations anymore, but I quite
understand it. But yeah, it's been a bit
crazy.
>> The Home Office said it would carefully
consider the decision and would not be
commenting any further for now. This may
be just a small corner of England, but
what's happened here has big
consequences for how the rest of the
country deals with what's become a
contentious issue. Ultimately, today's
decision could impact the futures of
those seeking protection here. But the
bell for now will no longer be part of
that journey.
So you can see behind me at the moment
we've got a gathering of quite a few
people here. I'd say around 50 people at
the moment and they're carrying union
flags and so on and talking and uh there
are cars going past beeping their horns.
Uh this evening we've had some political
reaction as well. So Reform UK leader
Nigel Farage hailed the high court
decision as a victory. Uh, Conservative
leader Kemmy Bedeno suggested people
housed here should be moved out
immediately and the government for its
part said that it continues to work to
close all socalled asylum hotels by the
end of this parliament. Anyway, it said
that was always the plan, but it's
likely that the Home Office could look
to try to overturn this decision in some
way or challenge this decision in some
way. Now, over the past few weeks, we've
also seen counterprotests across the
road with some people saying that this
whole issue has been used as a vehicle
for the far right. People here this
evening say that's absolutely not the
case. They say that they've wanted this
decision to happen since 2020 really
when the hotel first came into use as a
so-called asylum hotel. So, for them,
this is the decision they say that they
wanted.
>> Francis, thanks very much indeed. Watch
out for those firecrackers behind you.
Now, we asked the home office for an
interview, but nobody was available. But
joining me now is Ender Solomon, the
Refugees Council's Chief Executive. And
Solomon, good to have you back on the
program. What's your reaction to the
High Court's uh temporary injunction?
>> Well, nobody wants hotels. I don't want
hotels. Uh many uh of the electorate
don't want hotels. Politicians of all
colors don't want hotels. They cost
millions of pounds a day. the people in
those hotels and let remember who they
are. They've come from countries like
Sudan that are ravaged by civil war.
They don't want to be in them because
they know they're a target and they feel
very scared, very anxious, very
intimidated by the protests and
understandably
uh locals feel agrieved too. So what the
government needs to do is instead of
saying that we'll move out of hotels by
2029, they need to move much more
quickly. We need a fundamental reform of
the asylum accommodation system and it
needs to happen rapidly in collaboration
with local councils because hotels have
become a flash point for community
tensions and they are destabilizing and
they need to be stopped used. We need to
stop using them very quickly. Right.
Now, of course, as you may have heard,
12 councils have now lined up to make a
similar appeal and and hope for a
similar ruling. So, this thing is
clearly going to be catching on at the
local level. Where will you put all
these people? Where will the government
put all these people?
>> Well, look, let's remember that there
already are very close to 70,000 places
in the asylum accommodation system. The
reason why we've got hotels is the last
government created a system meltdown. It
created this huge backlog in the system
and if people are moving through the
system and decisions are made in a
timely matter, we shouldn't have to use
any hotels. So what the government needs
to do is it needs to take a large
proportion of people out of the asylum
system very quickly and it could do that
because there are many people in the
asylum system who will be granted
protection in the UK because they are
here as refugees. If you gave them
permission to be here, uh, then you
could move many people through the
system very quickly and decisions need
to be made more rapidly. At the same
time, if someone's case is manifestally
unfounded, then that decision needs to
be taken quickly. At the moment, the
government is moving through in the
ordinary way and needs to create new
mechanisms to make decisions far more
quickly than is happening at the moment.
Of course, the government says it has
considerably sped up the process and is
processing many more people than the
previous government did, which still
leaves an awful lot of people in hotels.
Just from their perspective, if you are
in one of these hotels and you've
escaped civil war in Somalia or in
Sudan, how does it make you feel to be
suddenly kicked out?
>> Well, we work with people in the asylum
system. They are scared. They are very
anxious. We were working in the
Rotherham Hotel a year ago. that was
firebombed. People were almost burned
out of their rooms in that hotel.
There's a lot of fear in the asylum
system. We hear a lot understandably
from communities across the country that
are concerned. But we shouldn't forget
that the people in those hotels are men,
women, and children. They are like us
and they have lives too. And for them,
this is terrifying. And they have a
right to have their case heard. And
refugees have come to this country for
decades. We've always recognized that
some will have to take a dangerous
journey and they need to be given the
opportunity to have their case heard and
move on and rebuild their lives.
>> But we also know that not just in
Britain but all over Europe, the
question of asylum seekers of what to do
about immigration is politically
explosive. And you know, as you saw with
the demonstrators in Eping, they're
wearing, you know, the flag of St.
George. They're wearing the Union Jack.
It's become an issue of national
identity. I mean, what does one do about
that? It's gone to a different level,
hasn't it?
>> It has. So, first of all, we need to
dial down the rhetoric because fanning
the flames of division, which I think is
happening by some politicians,
mainstream politicians, is not helpful.
Secondly, we need to understand why
people are concerned and often the
grievance is about the predicament in
their local communities. It's not simply
about asylum hotels. It's about the fact
that they feel their their communities
have been forgotten. there's been a lack
of investment, a lack of support for
families to move their lives forward.
That absolutely needs to be addressed by
the government because unless we address
the root causes, then people who have
come from other places will always be
the scapegoat, will always be the target
of people's fears and anxieties. And at
the same time, we need to recognize that
refugees have come to this country and
they've contributed. They've gone on to
make incredible contributions in the
NHS, working in our high streets, in
businesses. And if we tell those stories
more and overcome the division and build
an under a deeper understanding amongst
communities, I think we can move
forward.
>> Okay, got to leave it there. Enver
Solomon, thank you very much indeed.