BASW UK Statement on Manston Immigration Centre

What has been happening?

The centre for processing asylum seekers in Manston, Kent, has been the focus of news over recent weeks as concerns mount over the poor and overcrowded conditions at the centre. At one point recently the Manston centre was holding as many as 4000 people which is a massive increase in the 1600 people that it was designed to hold. There are reports of disease spreading and worsening mental health conditions. It is also thought that unaccompanied children (i.e. people under 18) are being held at the centre.

The reason given for the increase in people at this centre is that it is a result of increasing asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats. Once they have reached the UK, they are placed at a processing centre such as the one at Manston which was designed to hold asylums seekers for 5 days while initial security and identity checks are complete.

An attack on the Dover migrant centre then resulted in hundreds of asylum seekers being moved to the Manston centre.

There were also reports about asylum seekers being taken to London and ‘dropped off’ with nowhere to go.

How did we get here?

The United Kingdom has a legal and human responsibility to welcome and support asylum seekers. The Government has tried to water down this responsibility, most recently, through the introduction of the Nationality and Borders Act, which undermines many established principles of welcoming and supporting asylum seekers and refugees - and will make it harder for them to find safety and a new life in the UK. 

Provocative language has also been used by politicians in response to the increase in small boats crossing the Channel, which is contributing towards inflamed tension.

The Home Secretary has described the asylum system as ‘broken’, but her government has done little effective to truly tackle the situation. BASW has routinely raised our concerns including intense lobbying during the passage of the Nationality and Borders Bill that the policies pursued by this government will not end the backlog in the system but increase it.

This backlog that BASW warned about has now contributed to unacceptable conditions at centres such as Manston.

BASW’s Response

We echo the growing concern about the conditions in the Manston centre, and we urge the Home Office to immediately provide relief. While the Government has confirmed that the figure is no longer 4000 people being held in Manston, we remain fearful that these numbers could be reached or exceeded again if proper action is not taken.

We also thoroughly reject the language we have heard in recent weeks about an ‘invasion’ of Britain’s coasts and ask the Home Secretary not only to be more mindful with her language so as not to stoke divisions, but to listen to those who work with asylum seekers and refugees and to  adopt an evidence-driven approach to responding to the growing numbers of asylum seekers coming to the UK.

BASW UK will use the collective voice of our members to speak out against political and policy decisions that are at odds with our code of ethics.