UK inspectors slam detention facilities for migrants
LONDON, Dec 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Migrants who crossed the Channel to Britain from northern France are being held in sub-standard conditions, despite government promises to improve accommodation, inspectors said on Thursday.
The findings by the Inspectorate of Prisons and independent volunteer monitoring groups came after visits to migrant detention facilities in the last three months.
They found women who said they had been raped by smuggling gangs were “not adequately supported” and lone children being held with unrelated adults.
A previous inspection in September 2020 found the same facilities were “badly equipped to meet their purpose”, the chief inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor, said.
The Home Office had then assured “rapid action” to improve conditions.
But he added: “Despite some limited progress, detainees, including large numbers of unaccompanied children, continued to experience very poor treatment and conditions.”
Taylor said it was not immediately clear why government assurances had not been followed through, although inspectors were told of difficulties in co-ordination.
Britain has this year faced an unprecedented number of arrivals from migrants using small boats to cross the Channel.
The situation has become a political headache for Britain, which vowed to “take back control ” of its borders after leaving the European Union – and strained ties with France.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson outraged France by urging them to take back migrants who have crossed the busy shipping lane, and is seeking to tighten immigration laws.
Last month 27 men, women and children – most of them Iraqi Kurds – drowned when their boat sank in November.
The inspectors said families with young children were among those who have had to spend more than 24 hours in tents after arriving to be processed at Tug Haven, near Dover.
They highlighted “inadequate follow-up care” for two women who said they had been raped, and another who said she had been “sold into domestic servitude”.
Migrants were held in “increasingly cold conditions”, including on double-decker buses used to transport migrants and which were sometimes used for sleeping, they added.
They also raised concerns about injuries sustained by migrants on the crossing, including fuel burns, cuts and bruises which went unnoticed on arrival and at processing. — NNN-AGENCIES
