New clashes erupt outside London hotel housing migrants

Anti-migrant protests escalated late Sunday outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, northeast London, where asylum seekers are housed. Rioters threw bottles and smoke bombs at police, leading to five arrests for violent disorder. Police described the event as a peaceful rally that turned into “mindless thuggery,” with officers injured and a police vehicle damaged. Several hundred protesters gathered, chanting slogans like “save our children” and “send them home,” while displaying banners demanding the expulsion of “foreign criminals.”

The unrest follows tensions sparked by a 38-year-old asylum seeker charged with sexual assault after allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denies. Clashes on July 17 resulted in injuries to eight police officers. Similar anti-immigration riots erupted across the UK last summer after the stabbing deaths of three girls by a British-born teenager. During that period, rioters targeted hotels housing asylum seekers in multiple towns, including an attempted arson attack on a hotel in Rotherham, northeast England.

Credit: CGTN