Nearly 1,000 migrants arrive in UK in single day amid claims Suella ignored advice she was detaining people unlawfully
30 October 2022, 11:56 | Updated: 30 October 2022, 12:03
Almost 1,000 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel on Saturday, Government figures showed shortly after it was claimed Suella Braverman knowingly detained asylum seekers for longer than is legal.
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The recently reinstated home secretary was told at least three weeks ago that migrants were being kept in overcrowded centres in Manston, in Kent, for unlawful lengths of time, the Sunday Times reported, citing five sources.
Migrants are not supposed to be kept in the processing centres for more than 24 hours under UK laws, while they undergo initial checks.
Some 2,600 migrants have been kept for more than four weeks in the centres - only designed to house 1,600.
An immigration watchdog said earlier he was left "speechless" by conditions at the Manston migrant processing centre, and warned the site has already passed the point of being unsafe.
The processing centres have now suffered a breakout of the bacterial disease diphtheria, as well as the skin condition scabies.
On Sunday morning Government figures revealed another 990 people reached Dover after crossing the English Channel on Saturday.
Nearly 40,000 have arrived in the UK so far this year after attempting the treacherous trip from France, crossing the world's busiest shipping lanes in dinghies and other small boats, provisional figures show.
It is the highest number of arrivals in one day for a number of weeks, with more crossings taking place on Sunday morning.
The alleged lawbreaking piles even more pressure on the embattled Ms Braverman, who was only brought back to the job this week, a few days after leaving because of a data breach.
Ms Braverman was allegedly told that she needed to resolve the situation quickly by rehousing the asylum seekers elsewhere.
The alleged breach could be set to cost the taxpayer "millions" if the migrants are granted asylum and take legal action.
A government source said: "The government is likely to be JR’d [judicially reviewed] and it’s likely that all of them would be granted asylum, so it’s going to achieve the exact opposite of what she wants.
"These people could also launch a class action against us and cost the taxpayer millions."
Civil servants also allegedly warned Ms Braverman that the Home Office would very likely lose a legal challenge, and there could be a public inquiry if the issue came to light.
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Immigration lawyer Ivon Sampson told LBC on Sunday Ms Braverman should resign if she is found to have broken the ministerial code.
"She's well aware what happens when you detain people unlawfully," he said.
"What I'd like to see is the advice.
"That should be published and if she's broken the ministerial code I think that's potentially a resigning matter, not only as a home secretary but also as an MP because we can't have MPs blatantly disregarding the law."
Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the problems were evidence of the government failing to prepare.
David Neal, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, told the home affairs select committee, a group of MPs that scrutinises the activities of the Home Office, that he was shocked by the “wretched conditions” migrants are living in in Manston.
Sources told the Times that Ms Braverman had allegedly deliberately chosen not to sign off enough alternative accommodation to cut down on the £6.8 million bill the government was facing to house asylum seekers.
A government source said: "When they get there, people are supposed to be processed and then released.
"They have their biometrics taken and should be sent to accommodation paid for by the Home Office, which means a hotel, or they are granted immigration bail.
People believed to be migrants rescued off the coast of Dungeness
"They can only hold someone if there is a reasonable prospect of their removal from the country in a sensible timeframe.“She was refusing to sign off on bail or pay for hotels which means she was illegally detaining people. There is no legal grounds for them to be detained.
"Officials have been put in an impossible position because they can’t release people without Suella releasing the money. This has been going on for more than three weeks."
A fourth source said they believed Braverman could have broken the ministerial code again in the process, just over a week since she stepped down for a data breach.
A spokesperson for the Home Office did not deny that the law had been broken, but said: "The home secretary has taken urgent decisions to alleviate issues at Manston and source alternative accommodation.
"It is right that we look at all available options so decisions can be made based on the latest operational and legal advice."
It comes after reports that Ms Braverman was "in denial" and "amazed" at being forced to resign as Home Secretary after she committed a security breach - despite claiming to have owned up to her mistake.
Ms Braverman, who was reappointed Home Secretary by Rishi Sunak this week, just six days after leaving the position under former Prime Minister Liz Truss, tried to play down the security breach at first, the BBC has reported.
Mr Sunak, who promised professionalism and integrity under his premiership, is now facing questions about why he reappointed Ms Braverman from his own party, as well as Labour.
The Prime Minister has defended his decision to give Ms Braverman her job back, saying that she "made an error of judgment, but she recognised that, she raised the matter and she accepted her mistake".
Ms Braverman resigned after sending a draft ministerial statement on immigration from her personal email address to a parliamentary ally, the Conservative MP Sir John Hayes.
She meant to copy in Sir John's wife but instead allegedly sent the document to an aide of a third MP, John Percy, the BBC reported. Mr Percy raised the issue with the chief whip, who then told No.10 and the Cabinet office about the breach.
One source told the BBC that "initially [Ms Braverman] was in a state of denial" when Ms Truss later told her that she would have to resign.
"She was saying it's a minor thing," the source said.
Another person familiar with the matter said that Ms Braverman was "amazed" that she was being told to step down.
A source close to Ms Braverman has denied this account, saying that the Home Secretary communicated the breach "proactively" in the "official channels".
