By Sam Tobin and Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) -The British government on Friday won a court ruling that means asylum seekers will not have to be evicted from a hotel where a resident was charged with sexual assault, a decision that could ignite more protests and criticism from opponents.

Immigration has now become the dominant political issue in Britain, eclipsing concerns over a faltering economy, as the country faces a record number of asylum claims and arrivals by migrants in small boats across the Channel, including more than 28,000 this year.

Last week, London's High Court granted an injunction to stop asylum seekers being housed in the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, about 20 miles (30 km) northeast of the capital, which had become a focal point of sometimes violent demonstrations

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