London
CNN
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British charities and officials are warning increasingly direct terms A migrant processing center in England and a call to the Prime Minister Rishi Altar to move
Britain’s conservation Conservative lawmaker Roger Gale on Monday wrote to the Prime Minister that dozens of people had written to the prime minister to raise the “obvious crowd” that the state of processing at the center’s Manston shelters was a “violation of human conditions”.
The Manston migration center in Kent, south-east England, is currently holding up to 4,000 people, including women and children, although it is designed to hold only 1,500 people, local MP Gale told Sky News.
“It’s completely unacceptable,” said Gale, who visited the former RAF base last week, although he added that staff were “trying to do a good job in impossible circumstances”.
It comes as dozens of charities signed an open letter to Sunak from the charity Housing Positive Action, raising concerns about what they called “overcrowding and inhumane conditions” in the Manston centre.
The Home Office told CNN: “We take the safety and well-being of our dependents extremely seriously and work closely with our healthcare professionals and the UK Health Safety Agency to ensure their well-being.”
The Home Office also confirmed it was aware of very few cases of diphtheria in the Manston centre: “The Development Authority provides 24/7 health facilities in Manston, including trained paramedics and a doctor.”
Around 700 people crossing the English Channel in small boats on Sunday were transferred to Manston after “incendiary devices” were thrown at the migration center in Dover, local police confirmed.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, who visited Manston on Sunday, acknowledged the “huge pressure” at the center in a tweet.
“Yesterday, more than 1,000 migrants crossed the Channel, creating great pressure. I was very impressed with the staff I met who handled this excruciating situation,” Jenrick said Sunday.
The warnings come amid criticism of Suella Braverman’s reappointment as interior minister. Braverman is known for his tough stance on immigration.
More than a hundred refugee charities wrote an open letter to Braverman on Monday, urging him to address what they called the “asylum backlog” and create safe routes for refugees to reach Britain.
The letter refers to comments Braverman made at the Conservative Party conference in early October, in which he said it would be his “dream” and “obsession” to see a migrant plane flying to Rwanda on the front page of the Telegraph newspaper. , where some UK asylum seekers could be relocated under a controversial scheme.
“You referred to this country’s proud history of offering sanctuary. Therefore, we ask you to implement this with a fair, kind and effective system for refugees,” the letter reads.
Braverman, who has called illegal Channel crossings an “invasion,” defended his immigration policy on Monday.
Speaking to MPs in the House of Commons, he said he was trying to make the Manston site ready for the influx of people and rejected claims he was blocking the use of hotels for immigrants.
“I anticipated the concerns at Manston in September and deployed additional resources and staff to accommodate the rapid increase in emergency accommodation,” he said.
“What I refuse to do is prematurely release thousands of people into local communities without a place to stay,” he said, adding that would be the “worst thing to do”.
