All migrants have been quietly removed from a hotel months after protests erupted over the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl by an asylum seeker.
Migrants controversially being housed in The Bell Hotel in Essex have been removed by the Home Office. It comes after protests erupted last year when it emerged that an Ethiopian migrant staying at the hotel had sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl.
Background of the Incident
Hadush Kebatu, an asylum seeker, made sexually explicit comments and then assaulted the local girl last year. He would go on to be jailed for 12 months before being accidentally released from HMP Chelmsford, sparking a several-day nationwide manhunt.
Kebatu was eventually deported at the end of 2025, but not before being handed £500 to not contest his deportation.
Council Unaware of Removal
Now it has been confirmed that months after the incident, all migrants housed at the facility have been moved on. Epping Forest District Council have said they were not made aware in advance that residents at the hotel were going to be vacated.
In a statement, the council said they had contacted the Home Office to seek clarification. "We are aware that the Home Office has vacated all residents staying at The Bell Hotel, Epping and that only security staff remain onsite," a spokesperson for the council said. "Despite ongoing engagement with the Home Office, we did not know in advance that this was going to happen. We are seeking clarification from the Home Office on the details of what has happened and what their next steps will be."
Legal Action and Protests
Protests had erupted across the country last year following Kebatu's assault. The Ethiopian national who arrived in the UK on a small boat days before the incident was jailed for 12 months in September. The local council had previously taken legal action against the hotel's owner, claiming that housing asylum seekers there breached planning rules. The company argued at the time that the move did not constitute a "material change of use." The council had previously won a bid at the High Court to block migrants from being housed at the hotel.
