Who and what is behind the Epping hotel protests?

Epping Forest District Council has voted unanimously to urge the government to shut down a hotel housing asylum seekers, after days of protests.

Since demonstrations – some of them violent – began outside The Bell Hotel in Epping nearly two weeks ago, 17 people have been arrested and six charged with offences including violent disorder and criminal damage.

Speaking at a packed public meeting on Thursday, council leader Chris Whitbread said he was concerned that "peaceful protests" are "being infiltrated" by people "on the extremes of politics".

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Why has The Bell Hotel been targeted?

The protests began after an asylum seeker living at the hotel was arrested and charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Hadush Kebatu, 41, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and remains in custody on remand.

Who was housed in the hotel?

The Bell Hotel has housed asylum seekers before – for two years, ending in April last year, said Essex Live. Three months ago, the hotel reopened for asylum seekers, a move that angered some local residents.

Epping District Council said they were not consulted when the Home Office decided to rehouse asylum seekers at the hotel. At the time, Conservative council leader Chris Whitbread said the decision "to reopen The Bell was taken by the Home Office over our objections. It simply does not meet the basic requirements we believe to be necessary."

Who are the protesters?

Hundreds of local residents have been attending the protests, some carrying signs saying, "Protect Our Kids". Many of the protesters demonstrated peacefully. Jonathan Reynolds, the business and trade secretary, said they were "upset for legitimate reasons", noting the "huge frustration that is shared by the government" about the asylum system and the pressures it places on local housing.

But far-right groups have also been involved. The Independent reported that members of the neo-Nazi Homeland Party have helped organise the protests online, and that two members of the far-right group "can be seen as the administrators" of Epping Says No, "a Facebook page with 1,500 members, where the protests outside The Bell Hotel in Epping have been organised".

There are also concerns of further unrest after far-right activist Tommy Robinson (whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) said he would attend a further protest at the hotel this Sunday.

Where else could migrants be housed?

The government has said it aims to stop using hotels for asylum seekers by 2029. At the latest count in April, there were 33,000 asylum seekers in hotels, down from 56,000 in September 2023. In the government's June spending review, £200 million was assigned to help clear the backlog in asylum cases being heard and phase out the use of hotels. Government sources have confirmed that more landlords will be required to house asylum seekers instead.

Plans by the previous government to use "large sites", such as ex-military facilities, barges and ferries have been scaled back, and now account for less than 1% of asylum accommodation, according to The Migration Observatory. The Bibby Stockholm barge was controversially used to house some asylum seekers in 2023 but the last asylum seekers were removed from there in 2024, after concerns about its suitability and safety. The Fire Brigades Union had said it was a "potential deathtrap".