Manston migrant centre 'like pressure cooker' amid influx

The numbers of migrants crossing the Channel to Kent have been increasing

Rising tensions at a migrant centre struggling to cope with an influx of people have seen police called twice, the union for the Border Force said.

The POA union likened the situation at the Manston site to a pressure cooker.

It said the target of holding people for 24 to 48 hours was "aspirational", with some staying a week. Some days, the site has run out of food and water.

Kent Police said they were called twice in two weeks. The Home Office said Manston was resourced and equipped.

The Manston immigration short-term holding facility is located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet.

A POA said a union member had compared the situation "to a pressure cooker coming to the boil with a jammed release valve".

A statement from the union added: "We have had reports of incidents escalating, altercations between residents boiling over and resulting in injury with police having to be called."

The processing centre at Manston was opened in January

Earlier on Thursday, prime minister Liz Truss and French president Emmanuel Macron issued a statement to promise an "ambitious package of measures" aimed at ending small boat crossings across the Channel.

Details will be set out by the home secretary Suella Braverman "in due course".

The pledge follows a meeting between the UK Prime Minister and French President at the new European Political Community in Prague.

The POA has said it believed failure "sits at the highest level", with a government that has not provided a coherent response.

"There have been days where the facility has run out of food and drinking water," the union added.

"The marquees are crowded, levels of bedding on site have become inadequate, laundry facilities are inadequate, cleaning regimes are not adhered to, and issues have been raised around high levels of condensation within the marquees which has led to mould and bacteria developing."

The union is asking prison inspectors to attend the facility, which was opened by the Home Office in January.

Kent Police attended on 28 September following a report of a small group of people being abusive, and on Sunday after a report one man had thrown a plastic bottle at another.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Manston is resourced and equipped to process migrants securely, and we will provide alternative accommodation as soon as possible."

The department said it was untrue to suggest there had been a lack of food and water, and that it provided hot food, fresh clothes, toilet facilities, sanitary packs and medical care.

It said the situation at Manston was under control and there was sufficient capacity.

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