Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Britain’s Court of Appeal on August 29 overturned a ban on asylum-seekers from being housed at a hotel in London that has become a political flashpoint across the country.
The three-member panel backed the Labour Government’s appeal against the temporary injunction granted by a High Court judge last week that would have required the 138 asylum-seekers currently staying at the Bell Hotel, in Epping, Essex, to leave by September 12. The ruling means that asylum seekers no longer have to leave the hotel by September 12- it does not however constitute a final decision with the case due for trial in October.
The Court of Appeal has further allowed the Home Office to be involved in the case where the High Court had not. “We conclude that the judge made a number of errors in principle, which undermine this decision,” Justice David Bean said while reading a summary of the ruling overturning the injunction.
Asylum minister Angela Eagle said the Government “inherited a chaotic asylum accommodation system” and that it intends to close all hotels by the close of this Parliament, which is set to end in 2029.
She said the Government appealed the High Court judgment “so hotels like the Bell can be exited in a controlled and orderly way.”
The Government was criticised for pursuing an appeal, with many opponents arguing that it was putting the rights of asylum-seekers over those of local residents, a charge that it vigorously denies. “Local communities should not pay the price for Labour’s total failure on illegal immigration,” said Kemi Badenoch, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party.
While, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the Government had used the European Convention of Human Rights “against the people of Epping”, the Lib Dems and the Green Party criticised the “legacy” of the Tory Government.
