What is Manston Asylum Centre?

Sign up for Inside Politics email for your briefing free daily on the biggest stories in British politicsGet our free Inside Politics emailPlease enter a valid email addressPlease enter a valid email addressI would like to be notified by email about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice{{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}An error has occurred. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}
Under fired Home Secretary Suella Braverman is under increasing pressure to relieve 'catastrophic overcrowding' at Britain's main asylum processing center for migrants from La Manche.
Ms Braverman is reportedly considering housing asylum seekers - alongside members of the public, rather than block-booking entire premises in the claimants' names - after it emerged that the Manston facility, near Thanet in Kent, is currently occupied by around 4,000 people, despite having been designed for just 1,600 people.
The site, opened in January on a former airfield formerly used as a defense firefighter training and development facility, was meant to be a short-term detention facility where migrants could be housed for 24 hours and processed by Border Force personnel before being transferred to temporary accommodation.
However, Manston has been overwhelmed in recent months due to the high number of Channel crossings this year, which means livi ng have been allowed to prevail and outbreaks of diseases such diphtheria and MSRA have been reported.
Another 1,900 migrants made the perilous journey across the English Channel over the weekend, bringing the total so far this year to 40,000. It escalated a situation which then escalated after a man attacked another detention center in Dover with petrol bombs on Sunday. He later committed suicide, forcing the transfer of another 700 migrants from that facility to Manston.
The total number of Channel crossings in the year to the end of October marks a dramatic increase compared to the 28,500 who made the trip in 2021.
Ms Braverman has previously been charged with failing to follow legal advice that the length of time people are held in Manston is unlawful, a lawyer which she allegedly received at least three weeks ago, according to The Sunday Times.
"The Home Secretary has taken urgent action to alleviate the problems at Manston and finding alternative accommodation. Advice on willfully ignoring complaints is completely baseless,” a spokesperson for...

Politics Nov 12, 2022 0 50 Add to Reading List

Sign up for Inside Politics email for your briefing free daily on the biggest stories in British politicsGet our free Inside Politics emailPlease enter a valid email addressPlease enter a valid email addressI would like to be notified by email about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice{{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}An error has occurred. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Under fired Home Secretary Suella Braverman is under increasing pressure to relieve 'catastrophic overcrowding' at Britain's main asylum processing center for migrants from La Manche.

Ms Braverman is reportedly considering housing asylum seekers - alongside members of the public, rather than block-booking entire premises in the claimants' names - after it emerged that the Manston facility, near Thanet in Kent, is currently occupied by around 4,000 people, despite having been designed for just 1,600 people.

The site, opened in January on a former airfield formerly used as a defense firefighter training and development facility, was meant to be a short-term detention facility where migrants could be housed for 24 hours and processed by Border Force personnel before being transferred to temporary accommodation.

However, Manston has been overwhelmed in recent months due to the high number of Channel crossings this year, which means livi ng have been allowed to prevail and outbreaks of diseases such diphtheria and MSRA have been reported.

Another 1,900 migrants made the perilous journey across the English Channel over the weekend, bringing the total so far this year to 40,000. It escalated a situation which then escalated after a man attacked another detention center in Dover with petrol bombs on Sunday. He later committed suicide, forcing the transfer of another 700 migrants from that facility to Manston.

The total number of Channel crossings in the year to the end of October marks a dramatic increase compared to the 28,500 who made the trip in 2021.

Ms Braverman has previously been charged with failing to follow legal advice that the length of time people are held in Manston is unlawful, a lawyer which she allegedly received at least three weeks ago, according to The Sunday Times.

"The Home Secretary has taken urgent action to alleviate the problems at Manston and finding alternative accommodation. Advice on willfully ignoring complaints is completely baseless,” a spokesperson for...