The first coaches taking migrants out of the overcrowded immigration centre in Kent where conditions have been described as inhumane have set off, as Government ministers made the startling warning that 50,000 people are expected to cross the Channel this year.
Dozens of coaches with heavily tinted windows have taken migrants at a former RAF base in Manston to hotels or hostels around Britain.
Some of those inside waved or gave the thumbs-up sign as they left, evidently relieved at escaping the base which was described as being like a pressure cooker.
The Manston migrant centre, which opened in January 2022 was originally designed to hold up to 1,600 people for no more than 48 hours but instead has become a temporary home to nearly 4,000 migrants, leading to outbreaks of Diptheria, scabies, MRSA and violence, and many of those staying in Manston are women and children and are thought to have come from Syria, Afghanistan and Iran.
The departure of the migrants came as the union representing Border Force workers at Manston said that the Home Office planned to move 400 people out of the site on Tuesday followed by a comparable number over the proceeding days.
Lucy Moreton of the Union for Borders, Immigration and Customs (ISU) said there were now coaches on site with the intention of moving some migrants on to more suitable accommodation, and she didn’t know how many would go but that they were told the aim was to move 400.
Ms Moreton also called on the Home Office to increase support for staff working at Manston.
She added that sadly, nothing was being done to ease the pressure on staff and that they’ve asked the Home Office for increased support, for well-being and mental health services and for assurances to address staff concerns around the legality of instructions they’re being given, the sustainability for the short and medium term and any outgoing danger to staff, but that the Home Office hasn’t responded.
It comes as Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick warned that as many as 50,000 migrants could cross the Channel this year, which would be not only nearly double the total number of people who made the dangerous crossing last year, but a new annual record.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman previously told the Cabinet that the Home Office had reopened its Dover immigration centre following a firebomb attack.
The Western Jet Foil centre, used to process asylum seekers after their arrival in the United Kingdom, was closed following the attack on Sunday. Two people inside the migrant centre reported minor injuries, and the 66-year-old man suspected of carrying out the attack was subsequently found dead at a nearby petrol station.
Meanwhile, our British homeless sleep outside in the cold. We don’t pay our taxes to fund migrants coming into our country. This would all easily be resolved by returning them home.
Even better, they should apply legally. There should be no reward for bypassing the legal process, and anyone who arrives through any illegal route shouldn’t be allowed to stay, so why are they being processed? This is unsustainable!
We very seldom hear of MPs talking about our British homeless people, but when it comes to boat people they’re talking about it all the time, and there’s not much point in having a Government or political players if they can’t do the basics, like border control, and our Government should be looking after its own first.
And this is all going on while our very own pensioners, homeless and vulnerable struggle, and if the migrants don’t like the conditions they’re in they can always go back if they don’t like it.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 