Minister confirms two groups from Manston migrant centre in Kent were left stranded at London coach station

Published

3 years ago

November 4, 2022

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A government minister has confirmed two groups of people who had crossed the Channel in small boats were left stranded in London after a “misunderstanding” with Home Office officials.

Sky News spoke to an asylum seeker on Thursday who said he was among one group of 45 migrants removed from Manston migration centre in Kent and taken to Victoria coach station, but not told where to go next by officials.

But Chris Philp has now confirmed two groups had been left in the capital, saying they had told immigration officials “they had addresses to go to, so friends and family, and that turned out subsequently not to be the case”.

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The policing minister told Sky News there had been a “misunderstanding”, adding: “How that misunderstanding arose? Maybe it was lost in translation, I don’t know. But clearly, they have now all been looked after.”

Mr Philp also insisted Manston was now legally compliant after court action was launched against the Home Office over conditions at the site.

Reports surfaced earlier this week of severe overcrowding, with estimates Manston was housing 4,000 people compared to the 1,600 it is designed for.

Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, told Sky News on Wednesday that a judicial review was being brought forward as a result.

But Mr Philp said significant improvements have been made recently at the centre, adding: “I don’t accept the premise that it’s not legally compliant today. A lot of changes have been made even in the last few days.”

However, he warned there was a “huge challenge” and “radical action” was needed, saying: “About 40,000 people have illegally entered the UK so far this year on small boats and that is a huge operational challenge, it’s very, very hard to deal with that.

“These journeys are totally unnecessary because France obviously is a safe country with a well-functioning asylum system.

“These journeys don’t need to be made. No one is fleeing war in France. These journeys should not be getting made in the first place.”

After telling Sky News the UK had been “very generous to people who are in genuine need”, Mr Philp later told Times Radio it was “a bit of a cheek” for people entering the country illegally to complain about conditions.

Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the entire approach from government towards the issue “lacks any sense of a basic competence or compassion”.

He told Sky News they needed to drop the “expensive gimmicks” like sending people to Rwanda and focus on the root causes, as well as tackling the backlog of asylum cases.

Meanwhile, a Tory MP has attacked the Home Office for its failure to work with councils when finding accommodation for those coming over on small boats.

Council chiefs in Kent have already warned the county is at “breaking point” as a result of the migrant situation, and have written to the home secretary, urging her to stop using the county as an “easy fix”.

But North Devon MP Selaine Saxby told Sky News her own council had been “completely cut out of the decision making process” over housing people at a hotel in Ilfracombe.

She added: “I think where the whole process seems to be going wrong is that councils aren’t being involved in these decisions and the local councils are well placed to know where we can accommodate people safely and securely, and work with their local communities.

“That doesn’t seem to be happening at all.”

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At least 30 dead and 100 injured as armed groups clash in Syria, officials say

Published

4 hours ago

July 14, 2025

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At least 30 dead and 100 injured as armed groups clash in Syria, officials say

At least 30 people have been killed in the Syrian city of Sweida in clashes between local military groups and tribes, according to Syria’s interior ministry.

Officials say initial figures suggest around 100 people have also been injured in the city, where the Druze faith is one of the major religious groups.

The interior ministry said its forces will directly intervene to resolve the conflict, which the Reuters news agency said involved fighting between Druze gunmen and Bedouin Sunni tribes.

It marks the latest episode of sectarian violence in Syria, where fears among minority groups have increased since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.

The violence reportedly erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida.

Last April, Sunni militia clashed with armed Druze residents of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, and fighting later spread to another district near the capital.

But this is the first time the fighting has been reported inside the city of Sweida itself, the provincial capital of the mostly Druze province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports the fighting was centred in the Maqwas neighbourhood east of Sweida and villages on the western and northern outskirts of the city.

It adds that Syria’s Ministry of Defence has deployed military convoys to the area.

Western nations, including the US and UK, have been increasingly moving towards normalising relations with Syria.

Concerns among minority groups have intensified following the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, in apparent retaliation for an earlier attack carried out by Assad loyalists.

That was the deadliest sectarian flare-up in years in Syria, where a 14-year civil war ended with Assad fleeing to Russia after his government was overthrown by rebel forces.

The city of Sweida is in southern Syria, about 24 miles (38km) north of the border with Jordan.

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Meredith Kercher’s killer faces new trial over sexual assault allegations

Published

17 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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Meredith Kercher's killer faces new trial over sexual assault allegations

The man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been charged with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend.

Rudy Guede, 38, was the only person who was definitively convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher in Perugia, Italy, back in 2007.

He will be standing trial again in November after an ex-girlfriend filed a police report in the summer of 2023 accusing Guede of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.

Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was released from prison for the murder of Leeds University student Ms Kercher in 2021, after having served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence.

Since last year – when this investigation was still ongoing – Guede has been under a “special surveillance” regime, Sky News understands, meaning he was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations, including via social media, and had to inform police any time he left his city of residence, Viterbo, as ruled by a Rome court.

Guede has been serving a restraining order and fitted with an electronic ankle tag.

The Kercher murder case, in the university city of Perugia, was the subject of international attention.

Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found murdered in the flat she shared with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.

The Briton’s throat had been cut and she had been stabbed 47 times.

Ms Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were placed under suspicion.

Both were initially convicted of murder, but Italy’s highest court overturned their convictions, acquitting them in 2015.

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IDF blames ‘technical error’ after Gaza officials say children collecting water killed in strike

Published

19 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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IDF blames 'technical error' after Gaza officials say children collecting water killed in strike

The Israeli military says it missed its intended target after Gaza officials said 10 Palestinians – including six children – were killed in a strike at a water collection point.

Another 17 people were wounded in the strike on a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al Awda Hospital.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant but a “technical error with the munition” had caused the missile to fall “dozens of metres from the target”.

The IDF said the incident is under review, adding that it “works to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible” and “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”.

Officials at Al Awda Hospital said it received 10 bodies after the Israeli strike on the water collection point and six children were among the dead.

Ramadan Nassar, who lives in the area, said around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill up water.

When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said.

In total, 19 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health officials said.

Two women and three children were among nine killed after an Israeli strike on a home in the central town of Zawaida, officials at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.

Israel has claimed it hit more than 150 targets in the besieged enclave in the past day.

The latest strikes come after the Israel military opened fire near an aid centre in Rafah on Saturday. The Red Cross said 31 people were killed.

The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.

The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage.

More than 58,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.

But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough, as a new sticking point emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce.

Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.