Migrants crossing the Channel in small boats are being forced to wait on narrow benches and a concrete floor for hours while being held at a processing site, Border Force staff have warned.
The union representing immigration officers has said that a new temporary reception facility for processing new arrivals on the Kent coast is “less than optimal” for the men, women and children who are held there, sometimes for many hours at a time.
“You’ve got folk coming through who have gone through a very hard journey. They’re wet, they need to be warm, they need to be safeguarded. We’ve got no hot food or hot water, we can’t feed or wash them,” said Lucy Moreton, professional officer at the Immigration Services Union (ISU).
People who cross the Channel were previously processed in Tug Haven, another site in Dover, which was condemned by the prison inspectorate in December 2021 for holding people for long periods in “inadequate” conditions.
Following its closure last month, Border Force started processing migrants in Western Jet Foil, a former hangar also on the Kent coast.
“It’s made up of several containers – a bit like 1950s prefab classrooms - and it is lined like an Eastern European train station, with wooden benches screwed to the floor,” said Ms Moreton.
“If you need to lie down, you’ve got to lie on the floor between the benches, or lie in the benches themselves, which are narrow and backless.
“We don’t want to be keeping them in these conditions, but we just don’t have a choice. We can’t kick them out on the street.”
The Home Office has said a more permanent reception facility is to open imminently at a former military base in Manston in Kent, which it said would be used to accommodate new arrivals for up to five days.
It is understood that all of those who arrive via small boat will go through initial checks at Dover port, then on to the site at Manston for further processing.
But Ms Moreton said the site was not ready for use, warning that it is “so far off minimum health and safety requirements”, including having no fire extinguishers, first aid kits or defibrillators.
“The exits are not correctly signed because the building had been changed from its previous layout. There’s only one designated female toilet on site, no disabled toilet and only four male ones, and no provisions for disposal of sanitary products,” she said.
She called on the Home Office to “correctly resource” Border Force to quickly process people and identify whether they have a right to stay in the UK, and to ensure that they can be moved on swiftly.
“We need to identify the individuals who don’t have a right to be here and remove them, and if they do have a right to be here, regularise their status and let them get on with their lives. Don’t leave them in limbo for the six to 10 years that this can take now,” she added.
A large number of asylum seekers who cross the Channel are taken to hotel accommodation once they have been processed in Dover. It emerged this week that the Home Office is spending nearly £3.5m a day on housing 25,000 asylum seekers in hotels across the UK while they wait for their asylum claims to be processed.
Bridget Chapman, of the Kent Refugee Action Network, which supports asylum seekers in the Kent region, said she was “increasingly concerned” about conditions for new arrivals at Dover, describing the situation as “appalling and shameful”.
“After the chief inspector of prisons’ damning report at the end of last year we should have seen significant and urgent improvements but things are clearly deteriorating,” she added.
“Unfortunately we are not confident that anything will be done to improve the conditions for asylum seekers on arrival in Kent with the opening of Manston reception centre. The Home Office seems to think harsh conditions give the right optics, but actually those arriving need care, kindness and humanity.”
A government spokesperson said: “We are in regular conversation with the ISU who have this week acknowledged that the Home Office is addressing their historic issues relating to the readiness of the Manston site. These comments do not reflect their current position.
“It is incorrect to say migrants are sleeping on the floor at Western Jet Foil. At Manston we have sufficient toilets on site for the number of staff and have catering arrangements in place to provide food and water for staff, whilst additional kitchen facilities are installed.
“We will continue to bring individuals rescued from the Channel into the most appropriate port, including Dover.”
