Sir Roger asserts that “someone must be held accountable” for the situation at the Kent migration processing station, where there have been reports of overcrowding and illness outbreaks, while the Home Office leadership dispute continues.
The situation at the Manston migration center in Kent violates humane conditions, according to the local Conservative representative.
Sir Roger Gale, a Conservative backbencher, told that the facility is housing four times as many people as it was meant for, stating, “This is completely intolerable.”
The MP for North Thanet stated that he visited the location on Thursday and conditions are “far worse” than the previous week, when “there were 2,500 people.”
He stated, “I now believe that the Home Office was responsible for this situation.”
Sir Roger stated that up until about five weeks ago, the system was “functioning as planned,” but that it is now “broken and must be repaired immediately.”
Instead of “dog-whistle” politics, he said that tangible answers are required.
Sir Roger said that he would not “point fingers” when asked if Suella Braverman was the right person to manage the Home Office, but that “whoever is responsible, whether the previous home secretary (Priti Patel) or this one, must be held accountable.”
“An error in judgment has resulted in a violation of humane conditions”
Sir Roger stated that he has submitted an urgent question to the House of Commons to discuss the situation.
A Home Affairs Select Committee heard last week that circumstances at Manston were “wretched,” with overcrowding, disease outbreaks, and people being held for weeks longer than the intended 24 hours.
A report in The Times alleged that the home secretary obstructed the transfer of asylum seekers to other hotels and disregarded legal advice that the government was illegally keeping individuals at Manston, raising questions about her judgment.
When asked about the reports, environment minister Mark Spencer told that Ms. Braverman prevented the movement of migrants to “accelerate” their applications.
In response to a query regarding accusations that Liz Truss’s phone was hacked while she was foreign secretary, he indicated that “some small individual in China” was listening in on his phone calls, significantly overshadowing his interview. This has led Labour MPs to criticize him, accusing him of “ignorance” and “casual bigotry.”
Regarding Migration, Mr. Spencer noted that reducing channel crossings required “breaking the business” of people smugglers.
He did not rule out the possibility of more processing hubs.
Sir Roger stated that he considered this to be the “immediate solution,” adding that student housing or former military housing might also be used to free up space at Manston.
However, he emphasized that any new sites “must be utilized responsibly.”
According to him, Manston was supposed to turn people around within 24 hours, but “according to Home Office policy, that is now broken.”
Labour has also demanded that Ms. Braverman act and “make decisions” about migration to resolve the current crisis.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, stated that a “failure to make decisions” inside the government caused people to wait for extended periods in ostensibly temporary housing.
Ms. Cooper argued that the home secretary had not made an appropriate comment on the situation because there were still suspicions about her “personal security breaches” – following her original departure for sending government information via private email.
“An entirely novel strategy is required”
The Home Office is under increasing strain as a record number of people continue to cross the English Channel, with 1,000 migrants arriving on Sunday alone.
The Home Office currently faces a 100,000 backlog in processing asylum claims, with 96% of last year’s requests still unresolved.
The increase in illegal immigration from Albania has been attributed to the “foothold” criminal groups have established in northern France.
Sunday, refugee organizations demanded in a letter to the home secretary that the government establish additional secure routes to the United Kingdom as a solution to stop the perilous small boat crossings.
Meanwhile, Kevin Saunders, former top immigration officer for the United Kingdom Border Force, stated that the system is “broken” and that he would place asylum applicants on cruise ships.
Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative representative for Dover, stated that a “completely new approach” is required to address the “out of control” small boat crossings.
She said on TalkTV: “In the most immediate sense, this means preventing vessels from leaving France. Obviously, there are a variety of other measures, but a lot of them are currently pending in the courts, and others are subject to additional legislative amendments, so all efforts must be focused on halting those boats and addressing the problem head-on.”
