LONDON: A UK town applied for a High Court injunction on Tuesday to stop asylum seekers being housed in a local hotel, following protests, some of which turned violent.
The council in Epping, northeast of London, applied for an interim injunction against the housing of of asylum seekers and refugees at the Bell Hotel, citing “the clear risk of further escalating community tensions.”
“The current situation cannot go on. If the Bell Hotel was a nightclub we could have closed it down long ago,” Epping Forest district council leader Chris Whitbread, from the Conservative party, said in a statement.
Protests broke out in the town in July after an asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, which he denies.
Since then hundreds of people have taken part in protests and counter-protests outside the Bell Hotel. Further anti-immigration demonstrations also spread to London and around England.
Police said there had been at least six protests in Epping since July 17 and 28 people have been arrested and 16 people charged in connection with disorder.
Police officers and vehicles have been attacked during some protests.
The council is arguing that since the accommodation is not being used as a hotel, it breaches planning permissions, especially due to its proximity to schools and a care home.
“So far as the council is aware, there is no criminal record checking of individuals ... before being housed at the hotel,” Whitbread said.
“The use by the Home Office of the premises for asylum seekers poses a clear risk of further escalating community tensions already at a high, and the risk of irreparable harm to the local community.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to slash the number of migrants and asylum seekers in Britain to stave off pressure from the hard-right Reform UK party.
But the Epping council leader accused the government of “not listening.”
“We should not have to take this fight to the High Court, but we are left with no choice,” said Whitbread.
Protest-hit UK town bids to empty asylum-seeker hotel
https://arab.news/rjmqb
Protest-hit UK town bids to empty asylum-seeker hotel
- The council in Epping, northeast of London, applied for an interim injunction against the housing of of asylum seekers
- Protests broke out in the town in July after an asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl
Kosovo voters cast ballots in a second attempt this year to elect a government and avoid more crisis
Kosovo voters cast ballots in a second attempt this year to elect a government and avoid more crisis
- The prime minister’s party is again the favorite in the race, but it is unclear whether it will manage to muster a majority this time in the 120-member parliament
PRISTINA: Voters in Kosovo cast ballots on Sunday in an early parliamentary election in hopes of breaking a political deadlock that has gripped the small Balkan nation for much of this year.
The snap vote was scheduled after Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s governing Vetevendosje, or Self-Determination, party failed to form a government despite winning the most votes in a Feb. 9 election.
The deadlock marked the first time Kosovo could not form a government since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008 following a 1998-99 war that ended in a NATO intervention.
The prime minister’s party is again the favorite in the race, but it is unclear whether it will manage to muster a majority this time in the 120-member parliament, after other mainstream parties refused an alliance.
According to Kosovo’s election laws, 20 parliamentary seats are automatically assigned to ethnic Serb representatives and other minority parties.
Another inconclusive vote would further deepen the crisis. Kosovo has already not approved a budget for next year, sparking fears of possible negative effects on the already poor economy in the country of 2 million people.
Lawmakers are set to elect a new president in March as current President Vjosa Osmani’s mandate expires in early April. If this fails too, another snap election must be held.
The main opposition parties are the Democratic League of Kosovo and the Democratic Party of Kosovo. They have accused Kurti of authoritarianism and of alienating Kosovo’s US and European Union allies since he came to power in 2021.
A former political prisoner during Serbia’s rule in Kosovo, the 50-year-old Kurti has taken a tough stand in talks mediated by the European Union on normalizing relations with Belgrade. In response, the EU and the United States imposed punitive measures.
Kurti has promised to buy military equipment to boost security.
No reliable pre-election polls have been published. Kurti’s party at the previous election won around 42 percent of the votes while the two main rival parties had together around 40 percent.
Analysts say that even the slightest changes in numbers on Sunday could prove decisive for the future distribution of power but that nothing is certain.
Tensions with restive ethnic Serbs in the north exploded in clashes in 2023 when scores of NATO-led peacekeepers were injured. In a positive step, ethnic Serb mayors this month took power peacefully there after a municipal vote.
Kurti has also agreed to accept third-country migrants deported from the United States as part of tough anti-immigration measures by the administration of President Donald Trump. One migrant has arrived so far, authorities have told The Associated Press.
Kosovo is one of the six Western Balkan countries striving to eventually join the EU, but both Kosovo and Serbia have been told they must first normalize relations.
