The immigration minister has visited a migrant processing centre in Kent amid growing concerns about its poor conditions, as Government figures showed nearly 1,000 people arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel on Saturday.
Robert Jenrick visited the Manston facility after an immigration watchdog said he was left “speechless” by safety problems at the allegedly overcrowded site.
Mr Jenrick tweeted on Sunday: “Today I visited Manston to thank Home Office teams who continue to process migrants securely in challenging conditions.
He said the number of migrants who crossed the Channel on Saturday “creates immense pressure”, adding: “I was hugely impressed by the staff I met, managing this intolerable situation.”
Huge lines of people thought to be migrants could be seen waiting to be processed at the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent, as a total of 990 arrived.
Nearly 40,000 have arrived in the UK so far this year after making the treacherous journey from France, crossing the world’s busiest shipping lanes in dinghies and other small boats, provisional figures show.
It is the highest number of arrivals in one day for a number of weeks, with more crossings taking place on Sunday morning.
The highest number in a single day was on August 22 when 1,295 people arrived.
It comes after an immigration watchdog said he was astonished by conditions at Manston, and warned the site has already passed the point of being unsafe.
Chief inspector of borders and immigration David Neal told MPs earlier this week that Manston was originally meant to hold between 1,000 and 1,600 people, but there were 2,800 at the site when he visited on Monday, with more arriving.
The disclosures prompted the Refugee Council to call for “urgent” action and request a meeting with ministers to discuss proposals for tackling the problems.
Migrants are meant to stay at the short-term holding facility, which opened in January, for 24 hours, while they undergo checks before being moved into immigration detention centres or asylum accommodation – currently hotels.
The Sunday Times reported Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been accused of failing to act on legal advice received at least three weeks ago which warned migrants were being detained for unlawfully long periods.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The Home Secretary has taken urgent decisions to alleviate issues at Manston and source alternative accommodation. Claims advice was deliberately ignored are completely baseless.
“It is right we look at all available options so decisions can be made based on the latest operational and legal advice.
“The number of people arriving in the UK via small boats has reached record levels, which has put our asylum system under incredible pressure and costs the British taxpayer millions of pounds a day.”
Cabinet minister Michael Gove said the situation at Manston is “deeply concerning”, but he denied the Home Secretary ignored or dismissed legal advice.
“The situation in Manston is not what it should be,” he told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme.
“Everyone acknowledges that. We have more than 2,000 people there at the moment.”
The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to publish the legal advice reportedly ignored by Ms Braverman.
