Police were called to a Manchester business park after demonstrators gathered to protest against a controversial migrant processing camp.
Mitie, a major services firm with an office in Wythenshawe, is one of a number of companies that support the government-run Manston migrant processing centre, in Kent. The centre has made headlines this week after revelations that 4,000 people were being detained for weeks, in a site intended to hold 1,600 for a matter of days.
Around a dozen protestors arrived at Atlas Park, where the Mitie office is located, shortly after 11am this morning (Friday November 4). Despite security staff telling them not to enter the business park, protesters made their way to the Mitie building.
READ MORE : Protesters clash with security staff outside office of firm linked to controversial migrant camp
Waving a banner reading ‘Manston is a Mitie disgrace, shut it down’, one protester used a loudspeaker to deliver several messages, including one that likened Manston to a concentration camp.
Former North West Labour MEP Julie Ward was one of the protestors. She told the Manchester Evening News that she was demonstrating in solidarity with those in Manston but also to raise awareness of the ‘No to Hassockfield’ campaign, which aims to close down an immigration removal centre in her home county of Durham. “Our protest today is very much in solidarity with all the people who are currently at Manston,” she said.
“Manston is supposed to be a small-scale holding centre for people who are newly arrived. They’re only supposed to stay there for at most 48 hours, some have been there for 40 days. There’s nowhere to sleep, some are sleeping on cardboard on the floor, they’re sleeping standing up, there’s been outbreaks of diphtheria and other horrendous illnesses and diseases. We’re not upholding the human rights norms that we should be and I think we should all be outraged at the way that our public money is being used.”
Dr Rhetta Moran, of Manchester-based human rights organisation RAPAR, was also in attendance. She added: “This is not something that is going to stop until the situation has been transformed.
“The mission is very clear, we need to shut down every kind of facility that is effectively being used to imprison people and dehumanise them. What kind of society is it that sets itself a goal of creating a hostile environment? It’s backwards in the extreme.”
Protestors told the M.E.N that they were hoping to deliver a letter to Mitie CEO Phil Bentley but were refused entry to the building. Police arrived shortly after 12.30pm and the M.E.N understands that they entered the building to speak to representatives from the company. GMP have been contacted for comment.
In response to allegations levied by protestors, Mitie told the M.E.N that Manston is a government-run facility and that policies and decisions made around the way it is run, including detention of migrants, is decided by the Home Office. Mitie also said they only work on a small portion of the site and that their staff are well-trained specialists. The company also claimed it does not manage any prisons anywhere in the UK.
In a statement, a company spokesperson said: “As one of several contractors supporting the Home Office on site, our highly-trained colleagues operate in a small area of the facility. We are committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of those in our care and it was positive to see this week’s HMIP inspection report acknowledge the care and compassion demonstrated by our officers at Manston.”
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