Asylum seekers who arrive in the UK on small boats are being asked to find their own accommodation, the Guardian has been told, prompting fears that some could end up in the hands of traffickers.
Record numbers of asylum seekers have arrived in small boats this year with 33,573 as of 3 October. Last year, there were 28,526 small boat arrivals and in 2020 there were 8,404.
New arrivals are taken to Manston, an airbase near Ramsgate, Kent, where they go through initial processing, with many accommodated in several large tents on the site. Once processed they are usually moved to hotels or immigration removal centres.
However, some refugees and whistleblowers working on the site say there are delays and people have been held for longer periods due to a lack of available accommodation, which is at capacity.
This has led to asylum seekers being asked to source their own accommodation, which human rights campaigners fear could lead to some falling into the hands of traffickers.
Bella Sankey, the CEO of the charity Detention Action, said: “I have heard horrific evidence of children, women and men being unlawfully detained for over a week in makeshift tents and squalor.
“We have received credible reports that the Home Office is now releasing traumatised and vulnerable people, without checks, that could lead to them ending up in the hands of traffickers. Whistleblowers at Manston are telling us that the government has lost control of the situation for new arrivals.”
Home Office sources said people were released from Manston after full security checks had been carried out, and they were on immigration bail and had to report to Home Office reporting centres or face enforcement action.
Whistleblowers have raised concerns that some people who are released to addresses they have found themselves could fall into the hands of traffickers.
The Guardian has heard two recordings of staff at Manston asking newly arrived asylum seekers to provide a phone number of someone they can stay with.
It is feared that asylum seekers who have no contacts for family or friends in the UK are asking smugglers to provide a phone number and address that can be given to the Home Office. Some refugees are providing the same phone number and address.
One whistleblower said: “We don’t know if the asylum seekers are going to suitable housing or not. A call is made, officers say ‘are you OK to take this person’, then they’re given a travel warrant and put on a train.”
On one of the recordings, a man from a country in west Africa can be heard saying a friend in his home country gave him contact details for a relative he last saw two years ago. He has been told he lives in London but he does not know where.
Another whistleblower said small boat arrivals were treated very badly at Manston. They said: “It’s really appalling conditions. The managers don’t care. All they are interested in is the profits as they get paid by the Home Office.”
A number of different contractors are working on the Manston site.
Many asylum seekers arrive in poor condition after their journey. Some are suffering from hypothermia or fuel burns. There was an outbreak of Norovirus on the site last month.
One asylum seeker, who has now left Manston, said: “It was like a prison. I was sleeping on the floor without a blanket. One member of staff said to me: ‘Why have you come to the UK? This is our country and it is full. Why are you asking for food? Go back to your country’.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The continued rise in dangerous small boat crossings is causing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system. Manston is resourced and equipped to process migrants securely and we will provide alternative accommodation as soon as possible.
“Despite the lies they have been sold by people smugglers, those entering the UK illegally via the Channel will not be allowed to start a new life here. These individuals will be in scope to be relocated to Rwanda under our migration and economic development partnership.”
Home Office sources said: “We provide for all the basic needs of people who will have arrived tired, cold, in wet clothing and who may not have eaten during their journey. We provide suitable welfare provisions including hot food, fresh clothing, toilet facilities, sanitary packs and medical care.”
