U.K. migrant protests spark confrontations as government scrambles to respond

LONDON — Opponents and supporters of migrants faced off in angry confrontations at demonstrations held around Britain over a holiday weekend as the government scrambled to deal with fallout from a court order that will force a hotel in a London suburb to evict asylum seekers.

The ruling has created a headache for the government, which has struggled to curb unauthorized migration and fulfill its responsibility to accommodate those seeking refuge.

Immigration has become a political tinderbox as countries across the West try to cope with an influx of migrants seeking a better life as they flee war-torn countries, poverty, regions racked by climate change or political persecution. The debate in the U.K. has focused on migrants crossing the English Channel in overloaded boats run by smuggle