The front of the Britannia Hotel in London these days has more police hovering around at the front entrance than guests coming and going.
Metal gates block the entrance after it emerged the hotel has been earmarked to house asylum seekers, though none have as yet moved in.
Extra security was put in place after protesters began gathering outside the hotel in Canary Wharf, east London, which in turn has attracted counter-demonstrations by anti-racism groups.
More than 25,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year, with 898 arriving on Wednesday. This influx is causing a headache for a government that has promised to end the use of asylum hotels but is instead turning to more facilities.
Protests first hit the headlines from a hotel in Epping, Essex, after an asylum seeker who had been staying there was charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity. Hadush Kebatu, 41, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and is in custody. The focus of the Epping protesters has been the all-male make up of the asylum seekers living in the hotel. Males represent two thirds of those claiming asylum in the UK, according to official data.
On Wednesday night former home secretary Suella Braverman backed a protest in the Hampshire town of Waterlooville, where a set of flats was reportedly being lined up for occupation by asylum seekers.
Scenes of a mob setting fire to a hotel in Rotherham and attempting to break in to attack migrants is one of the enduring images of last summer's riots in Britain. One year on, the fear remains that demonstrators could light a nationwide tinderbox, sparking more violence. So far the protests at the Britannia Hotel have been peaceful and demonstrators The National spoke to said they wanted to make their voices heard about the prospect of male asylum seekers moving there.
Lee Boys, 43, from nearby Stepney, said the decision to move asylum seekers during the summer holidays was provocative.
“It’s worrying," he said. "I just want my kids to be safe and it’s the summer holidays as well, so it’s the worst possible time they could have done this. It’s a bit antagonising.”
Mr Boys, a construction worker, said he has been in touch with friends from Epping who have been protesting there and have formed a WhatsApp group to share information about migrants being moved from there to the Britannia.
He contrasted the make-up of the migrants with Ukrainian asylum seekers, about 210,000 of whom have settled in the UK.
“When Ukraine happened, there were families coming but these are not families,” he said. “And they’re not just from one country. They’re from different countries and we can’t control it.
“We don’t know who they are. We had terrorism a few years back but they’re coming by boat, with no record of who they are.”
He also hinted that the issue of migrants being accommodated in hotels has become a lightning rod for wider discontent over squeezed living standards in Britain.
“I've worked all my life. I've never had nothing from our government but they walk in and the first day they get a hotel room but I’m spending £1,500 [$1,985] a month for me and my family,” he said.
Another protester, Heidi Stafford, 42, who is from the Canning Town area, also near the hotel, was outside with her two friends.
She is an enthusiastic user of TikTok, which serves as a source of news and platform for posting videos for protesters.
Ms Stafford told The National: “Where I live is multicultural, which is not a problem. I’ve never been out to protest about legal migration but this is different. They want to put large numbers of men here and we’re concerned about our kids.”
As well as in Epping, at the weekend there were protests against asylum hotels in Norwich, Diss and Manchester, following those in Portsmouth, Leeds and Southampton last week. All have been met with counter-demonstrations, with both sides kept apart by a large police presence.
Meanwhile, nervous communities are now looking for a way out, as the potential for serious violence rises.
Epping Forest District Council unanimously voted in favour of the motion calling on the government "to immediately and permanently close" the hotel "for the purposes of asylum processing".
The hotel in Diss, which has been the target of protesters, has insisted it accommodates families and said it has told the Home Office it will refuse to take single men.
The Park Hotel even went as far as saying it would close down rather than accede any such demand.
"There are currently vulnerable families and children staying at the hotel, many of whom are feeling frightened and uncertain about the recent events and their futures,” said the hotel.
The numbers in hotels has been steadily increasing since 2020, and reached a peak of more than 50,000 in 2023, before falling to 32,345 by March this year. That figure had risen from 29,585 at the end of June 2024, just before Labour came into office.
According to Fact Check, there were 71,339 asylum seekers living in other types of non-hotel accommodation at the end of March 2025, compared with 67,057 at the end of June 2024.
The Home Office told Fact Check there were 210 asylum hotels currently in use and says it has reduced the figure by more than 70 during its first year in power.
The government wants to end the use of hotels by 2029 and has been trying to move asylum seekers into cheaper accommodation.
In a bid to achieve that, the Home Office has introduced a Failure to Travel policy aimed at compelling the hundreds of asylum seekers refusing to leave hotels to be transferred to other forms of accommodation every week.
Those who refuse to move without a valid reason will now risk losing their housing and support, the Home Office said.
Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, said: "We are working to close hotels, restore order, and put fairness and value for money at the heart of our asylum system.
"This government is making those necessary decisions to protect the taxpayer and uphold the integrity of our borders.”
