{"id":50336,"date":"2022-11-22T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/?p=50336"},"modified":"2022-11-22T20:33:15","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T20:33:15","slug":"asylum-seekers-cleared-from-inhuman-reality-in-kent-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/asylum-seekers-cleared-from-inhuman-reality-in-kent-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"Asylum seekers cleared from inhumane reality of Kent centre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>The Manston migrant processing centre, a place where migrants arriving on UK shores would be taken for initial identity checks, has been cleared of all the people held there.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Home Office has said that everyone who was being held at the site has been put into new accommodation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The site has been subject to several controversies over the last few weeks, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2022\/oct\/20\/diphtheria-outbreak-confirmed-at-asylum-seeker-centre-in-kent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">outbreaks of diphtheria,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-63489901\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">refugees stranded at London Victoria<\/a>, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/meridian\/2022-11-21\/support-groups-call-for-urgent-action-following-death-of-migrant-at-manston\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">death of a man<\/a> in hospital on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A person staying at our Manston facility has sadly died in hospital this morning after becoming unwell. We express our heartfelt condolences to all those affected. (1\/2)<\/p>&mdash; Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ukhomeoffice\/status\/1594026304432922624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 19, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The centre has been in national headlines and has highlighted the way the UK government treats asylum seekers. It has also started conversations about how migrants are seen by the British public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Organisations dedicated to improving conditions for those seeking asylum in Britain, including the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.refugeecouncil.org.uk\/latest\/news\/as-a-human-and-a-refugee-i-was-heartbroken-to-hear-of-the-situation-in-manston\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Refugee Council<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freedomfromtorture.org\/what-we-do\/asylum-and-rights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Freedom from Torture<\/a> have previously called on the government to improve conditions at the centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING: A man detained at the Manston \u201cprocessing centre\u201d has tragically died today. <br><br>We\u2019ve said it before: this government\u2019s cruelty to refugees isn\u2019t accidental &#8211; it\u2019s the whole point. <br><br>We need a compassionate asylum system that works. NOW<\/p>&mdash; Freedom from Torture\ud83e\udde1 (@FreefromTorture) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FreefromTorture\/status\/1594066606342426624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 19, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Issues at the site have been known for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk\/hmiprisons\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/10\/Manston-WJF-and-Lydd-web-2022.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">An official inspection in July<\/a> found &#8220;exhausted detainees held for more than 30 hours&#8221;, and raised concerns over inadequate health care processes and problems with security clearances of staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Detainees should only be held at the site for 24 hours while initial security and identity checks are carried out and should then be moved into immigrant detention centres or asylum accommodation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, some reports found people who were held at the centre for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/meridian\/2022-10-26\/watchdog-describes-unsafe-and-wretched-conditions-at-migrants-processing-centre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">over 30 days<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The former airfield in Kent has the capacity to hold 1,600 people, but recent reports showed that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/explainers-63456015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">over 4,000 were being held there<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> The centre was opened in February 2022 to try to manage the amount of people crossing the Channel from France in small boats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of 26 October, 38,000 people so far this year have arrived in the UK in small boats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Updated quarterly statistics on irregular migration to the UK are expected to be released by the Home Office on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/statistics\/factsheet-small-boat-crossings-since-july-2022\/factsheet-small-boat-crossings-since-july-2022#further-information\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">24 November<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"410\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2022\/11\/image-12-410x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50395\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2022\/11\/image-12-410x1024.png 410w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2022\/11\/image-12-120x300.png 120w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2022\/11\/image-12-768x1920.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2022\/11\/image-12.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Words: Yana Trup | Subbing:<\/strong> <strong>Nadya Salie<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Manston migrant processing centre, a place where migrants arriving on UK shores would be taken for initial identity checks, has been cleared of all the people held there. The Home Office has said that&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":50338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,93,128],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-news","category-top-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50336"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50397,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50336\/revisions\/50397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}