Anti-migrant unrest erupts despite UK's tightening of migration policy

Protesters calling for the closure of the The Bell Hotel, believed to be housing asylum seekers, gather outside the council offices in Epping, northeast of London, on 8 August, 2025. AFP - HENRY NICHOLLS

Protests over asylum seeker accommodation have intensified in England, coinciding with the launch of a new UK-France deal to return migrants crossing the Channel on small boats.

For the past three weeks, Epping – a market town of 11,000, north-east of London – has found itself at the heart of Britain’s simmering immigration debate.