The UK authorities have admitted Thursday that the Manston migrant detention center in the county of Kent has been operating illegally, a statement that comes after all the alarms were raised due to the overcrowding suffered by thousands of people inside.
The center was created to house a maximum of 1,600 people for periods of only 24 hours while the first steps were taken to apply for asylum in the country. However, the center currently holds up to 4,000 migrants who report inhumane conditions and have been in the center for weeks.
The Secretary of State for Climate, Graham Stuart, has acknowledged that «no one is comfortable» with what has happened and has assured that the Home Office is working to resolve the situation even though the Government claims to be meeting «all the basic needs» of the migrants in Manston.
Speaking to Sky News television, Stuart said the asylum system is «overstretched» with the large number of cross-Channel arrivals in small boats. «It’s not where we want them to be right now, but we have to look at how to sort it out. Thousands of hotel rooms have been made available, but it is unacceptable to the British people and we need to do more to tackle the people smugglers to stem what has become an unprecedented wave of migration,» he asserted.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman is scheduled to visit Dover this afternoon. Braverman has come under heavy pressure in the face of criticism of her for allegedly allowing the conditions for migrants at the center in question to worsen.
Braverman has been accused of allowing the situation to spiral out of control after a dozen asylum seekers from Manston were left with no place to stay. Her words have also raised controversy after she spoke of an «invasion» of migrants and alluded to «Albanian criminals».
The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, has condemned these statements and has accused the United Kingdom of «falsely» attacking the country’s citizens and pointing to them as the cause of «the problems of crime that the United Kingdom has», according to statements reported by the BBC.
Although he admitted that the territory «was once a model to follow when it came to integrating minorities», he warned that it has now become a «madhouse».
