‘Shambles’: Migrants moved from overcrowded centre – as 222 children put in hotels are missing

Published

3 years ago

November 2, 2022

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Hundreds of migrants have been moved from an overcrowded immigration centre in Kent – with the government accused of presiding over a “shambles”.

The Manston processing centre is designed to hold up to 1,600 people for no more than 24 hours – but as of Monday, there were 4,000 on the site.

Sky News has been told that some migrants are threatening to self-harm and go on hunger strike, with unrest “spreading across the camp”.

And in other developments, new figures suggest 1,322 asylum-seeking children have been housed in hotels rather than long-term homes over a three-month period – and 222 of them are missing.

Last night, immigration minister Robert Jenrick said “good progress” has been made in alleviating overcrowding at Manston, with the number of migrants there “falling substantially”.

Mr Jenrick expects more people to be moved today, and said: “Unless we receive an unexpectedly high number of migrants in small boats in the coming days, numbers will fall significantly this week.

“It’s imperative that the site returns to a sustainable operating model and we are doing everything we can to ensure that happens swiftly.”

Local Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale has also said that “several hundred” have been relocated, but it is unclear whether they are being taken to hospitals or alternative accommodation.

On Monday, Sir Roger had warned the situation at Manston was a “breach of humane conditions” – and given there have been reported outbreaks of MRSA and diphtheria, he described overcrowding as “wholly unacceptable”.

The British Red Cross also said: “It’s clear that immediate action is required to ensure that the men, women and children who have just made a dangerous and potentially traumatic journey have their basic needs met in a safe environment.

“No one should experience overcrowded accommodation that puts them at risk of disease and potentially being detained unlawfully.”

‘Unrest is spreading across the camp’

In an exclusive interview, Sky News has been told that some migrants inside Manston are threatening to self-harm and go on hunger strike in protest at being detained.

The Prison Officers’ Association represents 170 people who are working at the site – and assistant general secretary Andy Baxter, who saw conditions for himself when he recently visited the centre, has warned “unrest is spreading across the camp”.

Mr Baxter told Sky’s Lisa Holland: “Our members are facing threats from people constantly saying ‘What’s happening to me? Where am I going? When will I be getting moved on?’

“When our members can’t give them an answer, people start making threats to have sit-down protests, threats to go on hunger strike and people making threats of self-harm.”

He said some POA members have concerns for their safety, and there have been a few incidents of people making homemade “weapons” from things like wooden cutlery and toothbrushes.

Warning that there could eventually be a “serious breakdown in public order” at Manston, Mr Baxter added: “So far there are no incidences of those weapons being used on anyone – it seems to be something that people want to carry – but our members are really concerned.”

Some of the people being held at Manston have been there for weeks as there is no alternate accommodation to move them to, and they cannot leave until they have somewhere to go.

It is difficult to speak to people inside because they have had their phones taken off them.

But the charity Humans for Rights Network shared accounts with Sky News from two asylum seekers who were in Manston about a month ago. They are both 16-year-old teenagers from Sudan, and are now in hotels in London.

One said: “I spent 17 days in Manston. I slept on a blanket and was covered with another blanket which was not enough for me and I was feeling cold. There were daily fights between people during my stay.”

The other said: “There were no beds in the tents, not even chairs. We used to put the food boxes on the floor and slept on them.

“I spent all the time in the clothes they gave me when I arrived and they were wet with rainwater. A skin disease spread during my stay and I was afraid of getting infected with it.”

We can’t independently verify these accounts, but Mr Baxter described seeing “large marquees with quite poor facilities” – and a lack of beds and furniture.

Councils struggling to cope

Away from Manston, councils have “significant concerns” about unaccompanied children being sent to live in hotels by the Home Office – with local authorities often not informed ahead of time.

More than 1,300 child migrants were placed in hotels this summer – and as of 19 October, 222 of these young people are missing.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said that, when a child goes missing from hotel accommodation, the Home Office works “very closely with local authorities and the police to operate a robust missing persons protocol”.

The Local Government Association is urging the government to work more closely with councils – and help them support children coming to the UK without parents or guardians.

Louise Gittens, chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, said: “Councils don’t want to see any child placed in a hotel by government, which is completely unsuitable for unaccompanied children.

“It is deeply concerning and unreasonable that these hotels, which were introduced as a short-term emergency measure, remain in use, especially as the number of children going missing from them continues to grow.

“We urgently need a plan to tackle this crisis and ensure children can move quickly to their permanent placements.”

Braverman criticised

Yesterday, peers in the House of Lords criticised Ms Braverman – with Labour’s home affairs spokesperson Lord Coaker describing the situation regarding asylum processing as a “shambles” with “terrible consequences for people”.

His Liberal Democrat counterpart, Lord Paddick, attacked the “woeful track record” in processing claims – as well as the home secretary’s “reckless rhetoric”.

But former Brexit secretary Lord Frost defended Ms Braverman, and said: “We have seen over the last couple of days what seems to me to be an almost obsessional pursuit of the home secretary who is dealing with a series of extremely difficult substantive problems.

“A pursuit on the basis of leaks, anonymous briefings, the usual oversensitivity about words.”

World

Donald Trump announces 30% tariff on imports from EU

Published

4 hours ago

July 12, 2025

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Donald Trump announces 30% tariff on imports from EU

Donald Trump has announced he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from the European Union from 1 August.

The tariffs could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the US.

Mr Trump has also imposed a 30% tariff on goods from Mexico, according to a post from his Truth Social account.

Announcing the moves in separate letters on the account, the president said the US trade deficit was a national security threat.

In his letter to the EU, he wrote: “We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade Deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-Tariff, policies, and trade barriers.

“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal.”

In his letter to Mexico, Mr Trump said he did not think the country had done enough to stop the US from turning into a “narco-trafficking playground”.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said today that the EU could adopt “proportionate countermeasures” if the US proceeds with imposing the 30% tariff.

Ms von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement that the bloc remained ready “to continue working towards an agreement by Aug 1”.

“Few economies in the world match the European Union’s level of openness and adherence to fair trading practices,” she continued.

“We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”

Ms von der Leyen has also said imposing tariffs on EU exports would “disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains”.

Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on the X social media platform that Mr Trump’s announcement was “very concerning and not the way forward”.

He added: “The European Commission can count on our full support. As the EU we must remain united and resolute in pursuing an outcome with the United States that is mutually beneficial.”

Mexico’s economy ministry said a bilateral working group aims to reach an alternative to the 30% US tariffs before they are due to take effect.

The country was informed by the US that it would receive a letter about the tariffs, the ministry’s statement said, adding that Mexico was negotiating.

Trump’s tariff threats and delays

On his so-called “liberation day” in April, Mr Trump unleashed “reciprocal tariffs” on many of America’s trade partners.

The US president said he was targeting countries with which America has a trade imbalance.

However, since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.

The US imposed a 20% tariff on imported goods from the EU in April but it was later paused and the bloc has since been paying a baseline tariff of 10% on goods it exports to the US.

In May, while the US and EU where holding trade negotiations, Mr Trump threated to impose a 50% tariff on the bloc as talks didn’t progress as he would have liked.

However, he later announced he was delaying the imposition of that tariff while negotiations over a trade deal took place.

As of earlier this week, the EU’s executive commission, which handles trade issues for the bloc’s 27-member nations, said its leaders were still hoping to strike a trade deal with the Trump administration.

Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.

World

‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

Published

23 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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'At least 798 killed' at Gaza aid points - as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.

The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.

Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.

The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.

Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.

Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.

“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.

The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.

It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.

The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

At least 798 people have been killed at Gaza aid points, the UN says

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2025

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At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.

A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.

The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.

The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.

In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.