"When asylum seekers first arrive at Manston, a former military base outside Ramsgate in Kent, they are ushered from one enormous, grubby marquee to the next for a series of interviews and checks. As many as 1,000 people a day are processed at the site after crossing the Channel in small boats, and interviews continue through the night. Upon arrival in the UK, exhausted and disorientated, their phones and other belongings are taken from them and placed in distinctive blue plastic bags."
"People are only supposed to stay at Manston for 24 hours before being released to hotels, but some stay longer. In what is thought to be one of the largest class actions of its kind against the Home Office, at least 250 people who were detained at Manston in the second half of 2022 are suing for unlawful detention and other breaches of their rights."
"The centre was dangerously overcrowded at the time designed to hold a maximum of 1,600 people, it was accommodating 4,000 and grappling with outbreaks of infectious diseases including diphtheria and scabies. The Kurdish asylum seeker Hussein Haseeb Ahmed, who was processed at Manston, died in hospital after contracting diphtheria on 19 November 2022. People inside the Manston centre. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA"
At Manston, up to 1,000 asylum seekers a day are processed after Channel crossings and moved through large marquees for interviews and checks. Phones and belongings are confiscated and placed in blue plastic bags. Signage states arrivals entered the UK illegally from France and cannot obtain citizenship or settle in the UK. Stays are meant to be 24 hours but often run longer. At least 250 detainees from late 2022 are pursuing a class action for unlawful detention and rights breaches. The centre, built for 1,600, held about 4,000 and experienced diphtheria and scabies outbreaks; one detainee died. Officials admitted loss of control and an independent inquiry is under way.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]