Channel migrants held at a notorious processing centre could be in line for millions in compensation, it has emerged. Almost 200 people have lodged legal claims against the Home Office, which fears a “reputationally damaging” court battle.
Allegations include sexual assault, physical abuse and theft of property by guards, as well as appalling conditions, with outbreaks of diphtheria and scabies, forcible separation of families and denial of medical aid at RAF Manston, in Kent. Migrants could be entitled to £500 for every 24 hours they were unlawfully held there. But courts can hand out bigger payouts, and the Home Office has so far refused to settle cases with the asylum seeker claimants.
Migrants are only allowed to be held at RAF Manston for 24 hours. But some were kept at the former military base for up to a month.
It also only had a capacity of 1,600 people. At the height of the crisis, about 4,000 people were held there.
A Home Office document warned of legal cases involving “a death in custody, unlawful detention of adults and children, and Home Office officials charged with conspiracy to steal and misconduct in public office”, according to The Telegraph.
Allegations also “include misfeasance in public office, breaches of the ECHR, breaches of … duties to safeguard children, breaches of the short-term holding facility rules, breaches of planning permission, and breaches of health, safety, fire, and food safety regulations”, according to a note published by The Telegraph.
“The investigation of the conditions at Manston will probably be reputationally damaging for the Home Office,” it added.
Lawyers representing the migrants claim they were kept in tents that were “extremely cold”. They also claimed a lack of beds meant they were forced to sleep on the floor with thin blankets or on cardboard.
There was also limited access to hot water, soap, showers and toilets, and no access to clean clothes, it is claimed.
Cases of scabies and diphtheria were also reported the Manston. At least one migrant died after being diagnosed with diphtheria.
Some families were forcibly separated, while unaccompanied children were detained at Manston, contrary to the rules, it is claimed, and there was very limited access to phones.
A Home Office spokesman said: “It would be inappropriate to comment while the inquiry into events at Manston between June and November 2022, and any related litigation, are ongoing.”
Manston is currently being used as a short-term processing centre.
But it could be converted to take migrants currently being housed in hotels, at a cost of £5.7million a day.
Defence minister Luke Pollard said on Monday that the potential use of Ministry of Defence (MoD) bases to house asylum seekers could support plans to end the use of hotels to house migrants seeking refuge in the UK.
He told Sky News the MoD had deployed military planning teams into the Home Office “to look not only at what contribution we can make to security, but also how we can stand up military and non-military sites for the building of temporary accommodation, adequate accommodation, that will enable us to close even more asylum hotels”.
The previous Tory government’s plans to house migrants at Scampton – the former home of both the Red Arrows and the RAF’s 617 Dambusters Squadron – were dropped in September last year by the Home Office amid claims they could cost almost £200million.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, West Lindsey District Council’s director of planning, regeneration and communities, Sally Grindrod-Smith, said the authority “remains clear in our position that RAF Scampton is wholly unsuitable as a site for asylum accommodation”.
The statement added: “The location presents significant challenges, including the protection of nationally important heritage, the limitations of local rural infrastructure, unresolved contamination issues, and the sheer scale of disruption such a proposal would cause to our communities.
“Working with our development partner Scampton Holdings Ltd, we are committed to securing a positive future for RAF Scampton.
“We have already submitted an expression of interest to acquire the site and remain ready to deliver our ambitious £300 million regeneration plan.
“RAF Scampton’s future is too important to be jeopardised by short-term or unsuitable proposals.”
The plan would protect the site’s heritage, create jobs, attract investment, and provide long-term benefits for West Lindsey and beyond, the statement continued.
An independent report published last month concluded that the regeneration scheme could support more than 3,600 jobs, with more than 800 new roles in the defence and aerospace sector.
The proposals would also give a £65million boost to the tourism sector, the report said.