Picture from inside the Manston detention facility
BBC News has obtained pictures of the conditions inside the Manston migrant processing centre.
In the first image, children can be seen playing on a tennis court encircled by the metal barriers, with many facility workers wearing high-vis jackets watching on. The barbed wire fencing that surrounds the facility is visible. We have blurred the children's faces to protect their identities.
UGCCopyright: UGC
The second image shows a man holding the hand of a young girl. They appear to be waiting in some kind of holding area.
UGCCopyright: UGC
What is Labour saying?
PA MediaCopyright: PA Media
The Manston processing centre is currently over capacityImage caption: The Manston processing centre is currently over capacity
Labour has accused the government of allowing a huge backlog of asylum claims to build up, and failing to deal with the increased number of Channel crossings this year.
Earlier, the party's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said “added
bureaucracy” meant claims were taking 3-6 months longer to process.
She said her party would reduce this, and also wanted to reduce the number of people being sent to hotels, adding that “increasing the use of hotels is itself a sign of failure”.
She added there had been a “huge proliferation” in criminal gang activity driving increased crossings, including Albanian organised crime.
The party wants the government to set up a specialist unit within the National Crime Agency tasked with tackling the problem.
More migrants arrive in Dover
Simon Jones
Reporter, BBC South East Today
Yesterday 468 migrants arrived in Dover having crossed the English Channel in eight small boats, the Minstry of Defence says.
The
number of migrants who have crossed the Channel so far this year in small boats
has almost reached 40,000.
It brings the total for 2022 to 39,898 people.
Man found dead after fire attack on Dover migrant centre
One of the reasons why the Manston migrant processing centre in Kent has become even more overcrowded in the past 24 hours is because hundreds of people were moved there from a separate facility in Dover after it was firebombed.
At about 11:20 GMT on Sunday, a man drove up
to a Border Force migrant centre in Dover and threw what an eyewitness
described as two or three petrol bombs.
The centre, near the Kent port, is where migrants
picked up crossing the English Channel in small boats are brought ashore, before
being taken on to Manston for processing.
A photographer with Reuters news agency who witnessed the
incident reported a man had thrown petrol bombs with fireworks attached before driving
to a nearby petrol station where he took his own life.
Two people who had been inside the centre suffered minor
injuries in the attack.
Kent Police, which is leading the
investigation, said it was not currently treating the incident as terrorism.
Overcrowding may have been deliberate choice - Tory MP who visited centre
The situation at a migrant processing facility in Kent is "wholly unacceptable", a
senior Tory MP has said, suggesting overcrowding may have been
allowed to happen on purpose.
Roger Gale, who
represents Thanet where the Manston centre is based, tells BBC Radio 4's Today
programme "simply far too many people" were being housed there
He said that the situation should never have been allowed to get to
this stage, adding he was "not sure that it hasn't almost been developed
deliberately."
Gale said he was
told that the Home Office was finding it very difficult to secure hotel
accommodation, alleging he now understood a decision was taken by officials
not to book additional hotel space.
"That's like driving a car down a motorway, seeing the motorway clear ahead, then there's a car crash, and then suddenly there's a five mile tailback," he said.
But he could not
say which of the three occupants of the role we've had since early September - Priti Patel, Suella Braverman or Grant Shapps - made the choice not to secure
more hotel rooms.
Gale also said he had put forward an
urgent question on the issue to be addressed in the House of Commons, should it
be selected later today.
Calls for home secretary to explain worsening situation at Manston
PA MediaCopyright: PA Media
Suella Braverman is under pressure to answer questions about worsening conditions at the Manston migrant processing centre.
Another 700 people were moved to the already overcrowded facility on Sunday following a fire attack at a separate migrant facility in Dover.
The home secretary faces demands from Labour and the local Tory MP Roger Gale to address the House of Commons over the situation.
Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said there had been a big increase in the backlog of cases, calling for decision-making to be "much more efficient" and the removal of "extra bureaucratic delays" in processing immigration claims.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick and Gale visited the Manston centre on Sunday to discuss solutions to ease pressure on the site. Jenrick described the "immense pressure" it was under after the visit.
Pressure on Braverman is coming from outside of politics as well, as dozens of charities called for a "kind and effective system" for migrants and safer routes for them to come to the UK in an open letter to the home secretary.
It is expected she and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will discuss the situation later.
Braverman under pressure amid migrant processing chaos
Welcome to our live coverage of the developing situation in Kent, where allegations of poor conditions and overcrowding at a migrant processing centre have emerged following an attack on a separate facility over the weekend.
Here's a quick look
at what we know so far:
Home Secretary Suella
Braverman is under pressure to answer questions about worsening conditions
at the Manston centre
Around 700 people who have crossed the channel
to the UK were moved there on Sunday, following a fire attack at a different Border
Force facility in Dover
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick and local
Tory MP Sir Roger Gale visited the centre yesterday to discuss solutions
to ease pressure on the site
This morning, Gale describes the situation at
the facility in Manston as "wholly unacceptable"
He has also suggested it may have been allowed
to happen "deliberately", alleging the Home Office refused to
book extra hotel accommodation to house people arriving on small boats
Live Reporting
Edited by Emma Owen
All times stated are UK
Get involved
Picture from inside the Manston detention facility
BBC News has obtained pictures of the conditions inside the Manston migrant processing centre.
In the first image, children can be seen playing on a tennis court encircled by the metal barriers, with many facility workers wearing high-vis jackets watching on. The barbed wire fencing that surrounds the facility is visible. We have blurred the children's faces to protect their identities.
The second image shows a man holding the hand of a young girl. They appear to be waiting in some kind of holding area.
What is Labour saying?
Labour has accused the government of allowing a huge backlog of asylum claims to build up, and failing to deal with the increased number of Channel crossings this year.
Earlier, the party's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said “added bureaucracy” meant claims were taking 3-6 months longer to process.
She said her party would reduce this, and also wanted to reduce the number of people being sent to hotels, adding that “increasing the use of hotels is itself a sign of failure”.
She added there had been a “huge proliferation” in criminal gang activity driving increased crossings, including Albanian organised crime.
The party wants the government to set up a specialist unit within the National Crime Agency tasked with tackling the problem.
More migrants arrive in Dover
Simon Jones
Reporter, BBC South East Today
Yesterday 468 migrants arrived in Dover having crossed the English Channel in eight small boats, the Minstry of Defence says.
The number of migrants who have crossed the Channel so far this year in small boats has almost reached 40,000.
It brings the total for 2022 to 39,898 people.
Man found dead after fire attack on Dover migrant centre
Hamish Mureddu-Reid
BBC News Online, South East
One of the reasons why the Manston migrant processing centre in Kent has become even more overcrowded in the past 24 hours is because hundreds of people were moved there from a separate facility in Dover after it was firebombed.
At about 11:20 GMT on Sunday, a man drove up to a Border Force migrant centre in Dover and threw what an eyewitness described as two or three petrol bombs.
The centre, near the Kent port, is where migrants picked up crossing the English Channel in small boats are brought ashore, before being taken on to Manston for processing.
A photographer with Reuters news agency who witnessed the incident reported a man had thrown petrol bombs with fireworks attached before driving to a nearby petrol station where he took his own life.
Two people who had been inside the centre suffered minor injuries in the attack.
Kent Police, which is leading the investigation, said it was not currently treating the incident as terrorism.
Overcrowding may have been deliberate choice - Tory MP who visited centre
The situation at a migrant processing facility in Kent is "wholly unacceptable", a senior Tory MP has said, suggesting overcrowding may have been allowed to happen on purpose.
Roger Gale, who represents Thanet where the Manston centre is based, tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme "simply far too many people" were being housed there
He said that the situation should never have been allowed to get to this stage, adding he was "not sure that it hasn't almost been developed deliberately."
Gale said he was told that the Home Office was finding it very difficult to secure hotel accommodation, alleging he now understood a decision was taken by officials not to book additional hotel space.
"That's like driving a car down a motorway, seeing the motorway clear ahead, then there's a car crash, and then suddenly there's a five mile tailback," he said.
But he could not say which of the three occupants of the role we've had since early September - Priti Patel, Suella Braverman or Grant Shapps - made the choice not to secure more hotel rooms.
Gale also said he had put forward an urgent question on the issue to be addressed in the House of Commons, should it be selected later today.
Calls for home secretary to explain worsening situation at Manston
Suella Braverman is under pressure to answer questions about worsening conditions at the Manston migrant processing centre.
Another 700 people were moved to the already overcrowded facility on Sunday following a fire attack at a separate migrant facility in Dover.
The home secretary faces demands from Labour and the local Tory MP Roger Gale to address the House of Commons over the situation.
Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said there had been a big increase in the backlog of cases, calling for decision-making to be "much more efficient" and the removal of "extra bureaucratic delays" in processing immigration claims.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick and Gale visited the Manston centre on Sunday to discuss solutions to ease pressure on the site. Jenrick described the "immense pressure" it was under after the visit.
Pressure on Braverman is coming from outside of politics as well, as dozens of charities called for a "kind and effective system" for migrants and safer routes for them to come to the UK in an open letter to the home secretary.
It is expected she and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will discuss the situation later.
Braverman under pressure amid migrant processing chaos
Welcome to our live coverage of the developing situation in Kent, where allegations of poor conditions and overcrowding at a migrant processing centre have emerged following an attack on a separate facility over the weekend.
Here's a quick look at what we know so far: