A Tory Minister has said it's "a bit of a cheek" for people who arrive in the UK illegally to complain about the conditions they are kept in.
Chris Philp stoked a fresh row over the treatment of migrants by suggesting it was unreasonable for asylum seekers to protest at the state of their accommodation.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman is facing the threat of legal action over conditions at the crisis-hit Manston processing centre, where reports have emerged of outbreaks of diphtheria and scabies in overcrowded conditions.
A group of asylum seekers have told how they were taken from the facility in Kent and dumped at London's Victoria station without accommodation, appropriate clothing or money.
But Mr Philp rejected claims people were being treated appallingly and said "our asylum accommodation is better than most European countries".
The Policing Minister told Times Radio: "If people choose to enter a country illegally, and unnecessarily, it is a bit, you know, it's a bit of a cheek to then start complaining about the conditions when you've illegally entered a country without necessity.
"And you don't even have to come here, they were in France already and previously often passed through Belgium, Germany, and many other countries on the way.
"So we're doing our best, but the numbers are just overwhelming. That's why we need to do more work with the French government to stop these crossings and also look at reforming the way that some of these international treaties are getting applied domestically, because it is making it very hard or basically impossible to properly police our borders."
Challenged on his comments, he said: "If you enter a country, illegally, and unnecessarily, in enormous numbers, tens of thousands, and these are all mostly single young men, it does put enormous pressure on our system at a time when we're taking in enormous numbers of people from genuine war zones, like Afghanistan, and Ukraine, people facing severe persecution in Hong Kong.
"We're welcoming to the United Kingdom, huge numbers of people from those places, and it's putting, you know, when you then get 40,000 people turning up illegally, and unnecessarily from a safe country. It puts enormous pressure on the system."
Mr Philp said "urgent improvements" are being made after outbreaks of disease at the Kent facility and said the numbers of people at the centre had fallen in recent days.
No10 distanced itself from his remarks, saying people should be treated with "compassion and respect".
Asked if Mr Philp was speaking for the Government, the PM's official spokesman said: "I haven't spoken to the Prime Minister about that specifically.
"Certainly it is true that Home Office border force officials and many others are working hard to provide safe, secure accommodation for those individuals that come via these routes.
"As we've been clear, those individuals deserve to be treated with compassion and respect.
"Obviously the current approach is not working and it is placing huge pressures - both in terms of on the Government and on the local area - and that is presenting significant challenges, which is why we continue to work both with French colleagues and more broadly to try and resolve this issue."
Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said his comments reveal a "shocking and callous complacency over the disaster unfolding at Manston".
He added: "It is unbelievable that as we hear reports of sexual assaults, disease, and chronic overcrowding, his response is to accuse those who complain of 'cheek'.
"Rather than dismissing the problem he should start to show some leadership. People have had enough of the endless evasion, chaos and incompetence we have seen from the government on this issue."
Enver Solomon, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, said the comments were "misguided" and failed to acknowledge the "appalling conditions" people were being kept in.
He told the Mirror: “The fact remains there is nothing illegal about crossing the Channel to claim asylum in the UK. This is a fundamental right enshrined in the UN Refugee Convention, that the UK was one of the founding signatories of.
“We continue to urge the Government to take urgent action. This means establishing good quality reception arrangements that meet the welfare needs of the men, women and children in need of protection, as well as setting up a dedicated taskforce to rapidly clear the enormous backlog of claims."
Clare Moseley, founder of Care for Calais, said: "It is incredibly unfair as well misleading to accuse people from Calais of entering illegally.
"There is a mountain of evidence that the vast majority are genuine refugees in need of our help. They have no other way to come as no legal routes exist."
The Home Secretary has been at the centre of a political storm amid threats of legal action over dire conditions, an ongoing wave of arrivals and a diplomatic spat with Albania over her inflammatory language.
She was criticised for flying 19 miles to Manston in a Chinook helicopter yesterday for a visit where she refused to speak to the press.
According to defence analysts writing for the UK Defence Journal, a Chinook costs about £3,500 per hour to fly.
