The treatment of asylum seekers at a Kent migrant centre, where thousands are living in cramped and unhealthy conditions, has seen the government come under fire in recent days. As many as 4,000 people were being detained at the Manston site for weeks on end - despite the facility being designed to hold just 1,600 people maximum, for no longer than 48 hours.
Liz Hibberd, strategic and partnership lead at Manchester City of Sanctuary, said issues with overcrowding and poor conditions at facilities like the Manston centre are a result of the huge backlog of asylum applications.
When Rishi Sunak was asked last week for the percentage of processed asylum claims from people arriving in the UK on small boats last year, he admitted it was “not enough”. The actual figure, quoted by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer as he grilled the PM over his home secretary Suella Braverman’s approach to immigration, is four per cent - meaning that 96 per cent of the claims remain outstanding. Of the four per cent of claims processed, around 85 per cent were given asylum.
“People are waiting months and often years for their asylum claims to be granted, despite the fact that the majority of claims will be granted and could be granted much more quickly allowing people to then live and work,” she told the Manchester Evening News. She points to research by the Refugee Council last year that showed 98 per cent of people coming across the Channel apply for asylum, and the majority are deemed as being in need of protection at the initial stages of their application.
Asylum seekers “should be treated with compassion and care and protection once they arrive in the UK,” Rivka said, “but sadly that is the opposite of what we're seeing. “It’s not easy for someone who has children,” the letter read. “There’s a lot of children they shouldn’t be here. They should be in a school not prison.” The letter added: “We wanna talk to you but they don’t even let us go outside.”
In a statement, the Home Office added: “Manston remains resourced and equipped to process migrants securely and we will provide alternative accommodation as soon as possible.” Mr Jenrick said the government was procuring more hotels “in all parts of the country” and “decanting the migrants from Manston to those as quickly as we can.” He added: “Once we’ve done that, we’ll be able to restore Manston to the kind of acceptable humane conditions that all of us would want to see.
Do you mean arriving for great free benefits and pushing ahead of thousands of people on the housing waiting list. Run a story on how fair that is
Fleeing War-torn France!? 4x Cough!
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