Epping Migrant Hotel. Proof that protest does work?

[DangerQuakeRhinoSnake]

The high court ruled that illegal migrants must be moved from the Bell Hotel in Epping as it's been deemed unsafe.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3e221qgeeo

Other councils are now intending to follow suit.

A victory for those protesters, and proof that taking to the street can be effective.

It's an entirely practical and pragmatic question.

And what happens to the vacant hotel?

Why do you think that ruling relates to illegal migrants? The article is about asylum seekers, who are perfectly legal.

Unsurprisingly, Reform idiots viewing this as some sort of binding precedent are revealing their basic ignorance. It's only a temporary injunction, it's not binding law in any way, shape or form.

I reported the OP for this deliberately inflammatory term.

Protest us effective as long as the cause is just.

These protesters have just moved people from their area to somewhere else. They have to be put somewhere. Somewhere else is going to have to accommodate the same social problems as Epping did. I don't see how this is a victory?

To be fair, processing has improved quite a bit over the past year. In the year to March 2025, enforced returns went up by 22%, and voluntary returns by 19%.

So what is your answer to this @DangerQuakeRhinoSnake? Will you be happy that they will be housed elsewhere?

But the dumping of failed men via migrant, drug or drunkard hostels in areas where the majority live humbly has to stop.

Epping is a very high income area. I'm sure if these men eventually get housed properly, it won't be in Epping! I also know that very many of those protesters weren't from Epping and were from poorer areas a drive or tube ride away from Epping. Not areas that were directly affected, but areas which historically have had a strong BNP presence.

Are all the people in this hotel men? I have seen no evidence of that.

Will it revert to being a hotel for people staying > 30 days? I imagine it wasn't viable as a hotel business.

Are the "Serco staff" all not local? So nobody local is being employed, nor are local businesses benefiting from any service or goods the building purchases ?

My prediction is hotel will shut down and be empty for years before quietly being converted to flats... after the "no occupancy > 30 days" stipulation gets lifted.

After that, maybe the asylum seekers will come back, lol.

The government needs to build hostels for the migrants in areas/ streets where the median income is solidly six figures.

Won't that be extremely expensive, one of the most expensive ways to house asylum seekers? The land costs, the building costs, etc. I imagine poor transport links inthe 6 figures street places so then special transport would need to be laid on for the putative seekers to get to shops or govt appointments. Sounds inefficient & more expense.

Some politician was saying how the seekers put strain on local public services. So... is there somewhere in UK where they can live and WON'T be putting strain on local services?

I don't know what the answer is and I don't know if the change will be a good thing for local residents but I thought the protest angle was interesting. So often protests are ignored, but this time it seems it has had an influence.

When was the last time a protest achieved anything?

The protest has had an impact because the Tory-led Epping District Council spotted an opportunity to score political points out of the situation. Funny how their concerns about planning rules didn't emerge when the Tories were running the country.

What we don't yet know is what the unintended consequences might be.

Exactly. The 'problem' hasn't been solved (maybe for the folk of Epping it has) but those Men will be moved elsewhere and then what? Same 'problem' different part of the country. The whole situation is a total shit show and the Government doesn't have a grasp on it at all.

We've had asylum seekers housed in hotels in our city for a number of years. They have been rehomed into the community and integrated into different areas. (There are still some newer communities in hotels i believe) I am proud of the support they have been given. Having a multicultural society is enriching. Looking after people that have lived through horrendous experiences is what we should be doing. What if planes of women, children, and men were replaced here and saved from starvation in Palestine- would there still be the same vitriol and hate?

What is the biggest issue here? Is it that the residents are bored? Can the communities help to create programme that support with activities? Here one of the projects a local business women/restaurant owner put together here was supporting people to cook. Providing equipment and facilities (she may have arranged for them to use the hotel kitchens) - giving people something to do, allowing them to make food that was familiar to them, teaching them where to shop in the local area. Giving them self worth and value.
There are english language courses being run during the day to support those who need help learning English. (I know specifically of one's in schools which target mothers.)

Most hotels have a dining room that could be used as a classroom.

Find out what skills the residents have and see if they can support each other learning new skills. Maybe they will even volunteer the skills in the community? Giving back to those who support them and will become their long term neighbours.

Yes it requires some investment and organisation from the Local council, but surely this is preferable to just putting a roof over someone's head.

The government have decided to house ‘asylum seekers’ in hotels, which changes their use from hotels into asylum hostels. If anyone has ever tried to change business premises use you’ll know what a nightmare this is with tons of bureaucracy and no guarantee the council will allow it. As part of the change of use there are lots of risk assessments on the impact on the local community. This obviously hasn’t happened and has caused problems like the ones in Epping.

This ruling impacts every hotel that is currently housing asylum seekers as none of them are now hotels and not operating under their permitted use. I think the judge is right, you can’t just shove these people in hotels and hope for the best without any of the proper risk assessment of setting up an asylum seeker facility.

32000 are currently being housed in hotels, the government need to look at better sites for them.

32,000 is a lot of single men. Yes, they are overwhelmingly single men from safe countries.

Asylum seeker = illegal migrant, there’s no legal way to claim persecution before getting to most countries including the uk.

Illegal migrant isn’t inflammatory - it’s fact, and one that many people who don’t want the rescue system abused want to change.

The government seem to think that by telling us they’re not using hotels anymore we’ll think they’re ’doing something’. I notice that the msm isn’t pushing to know where they are all going although the answer seems to be HMOs. I suspect that there are quite a few people who don’t know what an HMO is.

From what I understand the large numbers of HMOs are being used to house these people. They are being run and serviced by Serco.

So thousands of men are being put in small numbers/groups into houses in communities. They have everything paid for and U suspect the HMO landlords are getting paid £££. I honestly believe the bill will be higher than a hotel. Labour will then just claim they ‘did something’.

These men need to be out in army barrack accommodation away from everyone else. One of these men is now on trial for sexually assaulting a young girl. We’ve got enough problem men in this country without importing more, especially whose belief structure and moral code does not fit in our country.

I also think it’s about time we were told how 70% of cases are allowed to stay when these people arrive with no documents and seem to lie about everything including their ages. How are we checking any info about them if we don’t have basic info. I can’t imagine the tax office or social security office in Afghanistan or Sudan being helpful over the phone. So how are their claims deemed real/honest?

Why do you think they dont?

Having a multicultural society is enriching.

In what way?

Migrants want to be in London, where they’re told the streets are paved with gold and they’ll be given a really nice flat with a view of the Thames.

People traffickers rely on us, the taxpayer, to fulfill the promises they get paid for.

Migrants are pretty horrified by the time they get a flat that’s only good enough for a local that pays their bills and don’t get a free telly.

People power

Your post is full of good intention@Mumdiva99however personally I would rather see money spent on people who are struggling in this country. Teaching English to these men (who we are told that come here because they can speak English) vs using that money to upskill our own young people. Our own schools are lacking funding but let’s setup a classroom to teach people who arrived here illegally having passed through many many safe countries.

I am interested in other cultures but what is the obsession in this country with living in a multicultural area. I note that many of the countries these people come from don’t seem to like multiculturalism, especially not the Christians. I also note that many aren’t interested in learning and adapting to our culture but pushing their own.

"The government needs to build hostels for the migrants in areas/ streets where the median income is solidly six figures."

So they can see how their taxes are spent?

We have got to stop being so anti-aspirational as a nation, particularly if we are going to improve things for traditionally more deprived groups of society.

Can I suggest that you brush up on your fiction-writing skills before you attempt to publish your novel? You're very imaginative, but you need to work on making it more believable.

I am ethnically Indian. I and many members of my family are starting to feel a little bit afraid. Slowly but surely we seem to be creating an environment where there is real hostility to anyone who is not white and this is getting worse. We are experiencing more racist abuse and the narrative seems to suggest that anyone non-white is somehow a drain on society. Most of my family work in the NHS as either Doctors or Nurses. They work really hard and do lots of community work. This does not however seem to be enough which feels really sad.

They are men because that is what the system encourages. Once the man gets granted leave to stay they then apply for their family to come to come.

House them with all the virtue signalling luvvies like SallyRooney.