Fears have been raised that pregnant women being held inside the overcrowded migrant processing centre at Manston are being denied healthcare.
It comes after detainees at the Kent facility pleaded for help and likened the conditions inside to a “prison”.
A young girl threw a letter inside a bottle over the fence to reporters claiming pregnant women and sick detainees were among those being held inside amid huge delays to processing of
Some 50 families have been held at the defunct airport near Ramsgate for more than 30 days, the letter appeared to suggest.
“We are in a difficult life now … we fill like we’re in prison,” it said.
Campaigners have now raised concerns pregnant women are being detained for far longer than the 72-hour legal limit at Manston and are not being provided with healthcare or support.
Mandu Reid, leader of the Women’s Equality Party, made an urgent plea for Suella Braverman to immediately say whether pregnant women have been illegally detained there for longer than the legal cut-off point.
She added: “The home secretary urgently needs to clarify whether pregnant women are being unlawfully detained at Manston in breach of their human rights.
“The detention of pregnant women is traumatic and completely unnecessary in the asylum process. Poor healthcare and the stress of detention is particularly dangerous for pregnant women and can have life-long consequences for both the mother and child.
“It’s despicable that this government appears so comfortable with the mistreatment of vulnerable women yet again, as we’ve seen in their dehumanising treatment of women in Yarl’s Wood.”
Ms Reid argued a “pattern of mistreatment and abandonment” is wielded “to deny migrant women their rights” as she warned this “must end now”.
Her comments come after hundreds of people are believed to have been relocated from Manston in the wake of worries the detention centre had become perilously overpopulated.
Manston was built to be a short-term holding site, with migrants only supposed to be held there for a maximum of 24 hours, while immigration documents are issued and some embark on the asylum screening procedure.
But some asylum seekers have been held there for up to 32 days, while some unaccompanied children have been forced to remain for up to 19 days.
Earlier this week, the prisons watchdog urged the Home Office to “get a grip” on the issues at Manston as they released the findings of an inspection conducted at the detention centre in July.
The watchdog noted Manston provides access to food, water, showers and toilets, but there are no beds at the site, while detainees can’t get fresh air and exercise.
While the letter in the bottle, which was addressed to “journalists, organisations, everyone”, said: “Some of us very sick … ther’s some women’s that are pregnant they don’t do anything for them … We really need your help. Please help us.”
A disabled child is detained at the Kent facility, the letter claims, saying: “He’s really bad, they don’t even care about him.”
The letter also claimed detainees were blocked from going outside, saying: “We wanna talk to you but they don’t even let us go outside.”
Gemma Lousley, of Women for Refugee Women, said she was “extremely concerned.”
“Detention is incredibly distressing and traumatic in itself, and the unsanitary and unsafe conditions at Manston will only exacerbate the harmful impact on pregnant women who are being held there,” she added.
She noted that campaign work by Women for Refugee Women led the government to roll out a time limit on the detention of pregnant women back in 2016.
“They must not go back on this promise, which would cause further harm to women seeking safety. Detention is extremely cruel, re-traumatising and harmful. No-one seeking safety should be subjected to this treatment,” she said.
She also called for Manston to be closed, with those “seeking asylum” provided with “care, protection” and made “welcome in our communities”.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “These spurious claims are categorically untrue. The safety and welfare of those in our care are taken extremely seriously and we are working closely with our health professionals and the UK Health Security Agency to ensure their wellbeing.
“The Home Office provides 24/7 health facilities at Manston, including trained medical staff and a doctor for all those on site and people are taken to hospital for further care if needed.”
