Protests against the practice of accommodation of illegal immigrants in hotels are beginning to flood Britain, reports the newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
According to its information, protests took place in Norwich in eastern England on July 26. Hundreds of people with British flags gathered outside one of the hotels where illegal immigrants were staying, demanding its closure. Similar protests have taken place in Leeds, Nottinghamshire and Southampton (Hampshire). As the article says, in some cases pro-migrant groups tried to approach the protesters, but they were pushed back by police to avoid clashes.
The Daily Telegraph reports that further protests are planned for July 27 in Bournemouth (Dorset) and Southampton in the south of the country, Sutton-in-Ashfield (Nottinghamshire), Wolverhampton (West Midlands), Altrincham (Greater Manchester) and Epping (Essex).
The protests have been gathering momentum since an incident in Epping in mid-July. A 38-year-old Ethiopian refugee living in the city was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Dozens of people then gathered outside the hotel where the migrants were staying, demanding that it be closed. The protests lasted for several days, 18 people were detained, seven of whom were charged.
According to official figures from the UK Home Office, cited by the newspaper, as of March 2025, 32,000 illegal migrants were accommodated in 210 hotels across the country. Since the beginning of 2025, almost 20,000 illegal immigrants have crossed into the kingdom in inflatable boats across the English Channel. This is 48% more than the figure for the first half of 2024 and 75% more than the same period in 2023. The current year's record was set on May 31 - about 1,200 people crossed the strait.
In the summer of 2024, after 17-year-old teenager Axel Rudakubana attacked participants in a children's dance master class with a knife, killing three girls, anti-immigrant protests erupted in Britain. About 1,300 people were detained across the country, dozens of law enforcement officers were injured, and several shops, police stations and cars were burned.