Whistleblowers at an asylum centre in Kent have described being overwhelmed as they try to process migrants on peak crossing days. Manston in Kent has seen a former RAF base turned into a large processing centre for those arriving on buses after entering the country to apply for asylum.
Staff at the site have told the Daily Mail of their inability to thoroughly check those coming in due to the sheer number of arrivals at certain times. As a result, some are able to walk the streets of Britain without authorities being able to substantiate their background or the safety of allowing them to do so. According to one worker, the first question many ask is about the hotel accommodation that they expect to get on their arrival.
A young male worker at the camp told the Daily Mail: “They ask us that hotel question immediately.
“They expect to get a hotel bed straight away and that is one key reason they come to the UK. We are told not to answer – to distract them by offering a bag of crisps or a bottle of water.”
Less than a month ago, staff at the centre were asked to work overtime as they rushed to process more than 1,000 migrants who arrived in the UK in a single day.
The taxpayer-funded facility in Manston is the UK’s biggest asylum seeker processing facility.
It was designed to process up to 1,000 people a time for less than 24 hours but the former RAF base has housed over 4,000 people at a time for up to 33 days.
Another worker added: “We know what the migrants tell us is often a falsehood but there is nothing we can do. We have to write it on their records as though it is the truth.
“Time and again, the migrants give us the same fantasy story as if they have learned a script. The Afghans say they are running from the Taliban.
“Some Africans from strict religious countries say they are gay and they will be killed at home for their homosexuality. A lot even give the same birth date of January 1.”
A third worker explained: “Britain is being hoodwinked. We have to accept at face value that their name and country is correct. There is no way of telling because, since Brexit, the EU police don’t allow Britain to cross check the fingerprints or information collected when the migrant first entered Europe before arriving at Calais for the boats.
“Some will have been deported from EU countries for crimes. Some will have spent time in prison abroad.
“But we don’t know – we can only start with a blank sheet. Yet within days these strangers are sprinkled around the country. If they are considered a potential danger to us staff, why are they not considered a risk to the British public?”
Earlier this month, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves said extra cash will be made available to the Home Office in order to “cut the asylum backlog, hear more appeal cases and return people who have no right to be here”.
It came as part of a commitment to end the use of hotels for migrants awaiting the outcome of asylum applications by the end of the parliament.