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The British government has announced a major reform to the asylum appeals system, in an attempt to reduce the number of migrants being held in detention while they await a final decision.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said practical steps were being taken to eliminate unacceptable delays. A new body, made up of independent judges, would be set up to hear appeals more quickly than the current court system.
The government is under great pressure to reduce the number of hotels housing asylum seekers, while protests that took place last weekend in various cities in the United Kingdom are evidence of public anger at the policy.
According to official data, 32,000 people are still sheltering in hotels. Meanwhile, on average, it takes more than a year to review an appeal and there are currently 51,000 cases awaiting a decision, all covered by public money.
Minister Cooper said that while initial decisions have been expedited, appeals have become a backlog. The proposed solution is to set up a new panel of independent judges who will act more quickly than traditional courts. The government has promised to provide more details on this reform in the autumn.
On the other hand, the Refugee Council told the BBC that the best way to reduce appeals is "for the first decision to be correct." Their representative, Imran Hussain, stated that around half of appeals win because the initial decision is "fundamentally wrong."
The weekend saw a wave of protests in places as diverse as Bristol, Liverpool, London, Mold (Wales), Perth (Scotland) and County Antrim (Northern Ireland). Police intervened on several occasions to separate opposing groups and there were at least 15 arrests, including a woman in Bristol who allegedly attacked an emergency worker.
On Sunday, protesters gathered outside a Holiday Inn hotel in Birmingham, where some were seen entering through the door or climbing poles near the building. In London, police guarded the entrance to the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf, where about 20 people were protesting.
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