What to Know About the Protests Outside U.K. Hotels Housing Asylum Seekers

On Tuesday, a judge in England is set to decide whether to block a hotel in Epping, northeast of London, from being used as accommodation for asylum seekers.

In recent weeks, the hotel, The Bell, had become the center of repeated protests, which have at times become violent, after an asylum seeker staying there was charged last month with sexually assaulting a teenage girl, which he denies.

The district council applied for an injunction barring the hotel from housing asylum seekers, stating that doing so violates planning rules and “poses a clear risk of further escalating community tensions already at a high, and the risk of irreparable harm to the local community.”

If the council’s case is successful, it may provide a template for other places in Britain seeking to prevent hotels from being used as accommodation for asylum seekers.