Hundreds of police and protestors clash outside a Holiday Inn Express, in Rotherham.
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Refugee support organisations are being forced to install safe rooms, relocate to new locations or even shut their offices in response to the rise of far-right violence.
Half of charities and NGOs supporting refugees have faced threats and a “hostile environment” of protest and safety concerns since the riots in summer 2024, research has found.
Some heads of organisations have reportedly received “credible death threats”.
Organisations polled support tens of thousands of asylum seekers, migrants and refugees.
This comes as 80 councils – including those run by Labour – considered legal action to shut down hotels used to house asylum seekers.
The revolt follows a landmark court decision after a council in Essex was granted an injunction to stop a local hotel housing asylum seekers.
The Bell Hotel in Epping had been at the centre of a series of protests over a number of weeks.
Protesters with flags and signs protest outside the Brook Hotel in Norwich, England.
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Refugee charities install safe rooms and relocate amid rise in far-right threats.
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An anti-immigration demonstrator stands outside the Holiday Inn hotel which is housing refugees in Rotherham.
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Alamy
The safety concerns set out in the report, revealed by The Guardian, are so grave that an internal Home Office meeting is due to take place imminently to discuss growing concerns.
Various organisations have been forced to protect themselves and their clients in recent weeks, including shutting down offices and moving to an online-only service and removing website content including location.
New CCTV has been installed, in coordination with police, in some cases.
Research revealed multiple organisations reported online threats, trolling, hostile emails and intimidating Facebook posts, alongside phone calls and threatening messages.
One NGO was put on a far-right hit-list, while another charity was filmed and shared on an online group.
Another NGO that took part in the survey said: “We have had to create a safe room where all of us could be contained in the event of an attack while the police arrived.”
Pro immigration protesters demonstrate outside The Roundhouse hotel, in Bournemouth, England.
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“The hostile environment has to be dismantled,” said a different organisation.
Another said: “There is concern that the government is parroting far-right lines instead of adopting their own anti-racist stance.
“This is extremely disappointing.”
A Home Office spokesperson told the Guardian: “We strongly condemn any form of harassment or intimidation.
“Anyone who engages in such behaviour can expect to face the full force of the law.”
The number of asylum seekers housed in UK hotels has gone up 8% in past year, Home Office figures have revealed.
Home Office spending on asylum in the UK stood at £4.76 billion in 2024/25, down 12% from a record £5.38 billion in 2023/24, Government figures show.
The figures, released on Thursday, reveal the total costs linked to housing asylum seekers, with data showing a total of 32,059 were housed in hotels in the 12 months since June 2024.
The total covers all Home Office costs related to asylum, including direct cash support and accommodation, plus wider staffing and other migration and borders activity.
It does not include costs relating to the interception of migrants who travel to the UK across the English Channel in small boats.
The figure for 2024/25, £4.76 billion, is more than three times the equivalent amount in 2020/21 (£1.34 billion) and is more than 10 times the total a decade ago in 2014/15 (£0.47 billion).
Minister Catherine McKinnell has said it is “really important” to manage asylum accommodation while also speeding up the claims process.
“We inherited a terrible mess from the last government when it comes to the immigration system and particularly the processing of asylum claims – massive backlog.”
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