LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Court of Appeal has overturned a temporary injunction that would have blocked asylum-seekers from being housed at a hotel northeast of London that has been the site of protests for weeks.
In a ruling Friday, the three-person panel backed the government’s appeal after finding flaws made by a High Court judge last week. Under that ruling, the 138 asylum-seekers staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping would have had to leave by Sept. 12.
The Labour government, via the Home Office, and Somani Hotels, which owns the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, sought to challenge the temporary injunction that was granted on the basis of local planning laws.
Though the local planning laws in Essex may not apply elsewhere, other councils, including Labour-run authorities, have since publicly announced their intention to seek legal advice over whether they could achieve similar injunctions for hotels in their areas.
The Bell Hotel has become the epicenter for an issue that’s become a key political issue in the U.K. following the sharp rise in the number of asylum-seekers arriving on small boats across the English Channel over the past few years.
Earlier Friday, Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said the immediate closure of asylum hotels could lead to migrants “living destitute in the streets” but that the government is looking for alternative ways to house the asylum-seekers.
The government has a statutory duty to house people seeking asylum.
