Ministers face questions as migrant crisis worsens

Suella Braverman is nether unit to reply questions astir worsening conditions astatine a migrant processing centre successful Kent said to beryllium overcrowded.

The location caput faces demands from Labour and a elder Tory MP to code the Commons implicit the concern astatine the tract successful Manston.

Hundreds of radical were moved determination connected Sunday aft a occurrence onslaught astatine a abstracted migrant installation successful Dover.

The authorities said it was controlling migration and deterring traffickers.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick and Tory MP Sir Roger Gale visited the Manston centre connected Sunday to sermon solutions to easiness unit connected the site.

Sir Roger raised concerns implicit reports that Ms Braverman decided against moving much migrants to adjacent hotels.

Speaking to BBC South East, Sir Roger said it was "wrong" for Ms Braverman not to committee much edifice rooms, and said it was causing a backlog.

He said helium had been assured 650 migrants would beryllium moved of Manston and into hotels oregon impermanent accommodation this week.

Sir Roger and Labour MPs privation the location caput to reply MPs' questions astir this successful the House of Commons later.

Concerns implicit the conditions facing migrants astatine Manston came arsenic dozens of charities called for a "kind and effectual system" for migrants.

An unfastened missive to Ms Braverman - signed by charities including Christian Aid and Save the Children - urged safer routes for radical to travel to the UK.

It said: "You person referred to this country's arrogant past of offering sanctuary, truthful we inquire you to marque this hap with a fair, benignant and effectual strategy for refugees.

"Deal with the backlog successful asylum cases, make harmless routes, respect planetary law, and the UN normal connected refugees, and springiness refugees a just hearing, nevertheless they get here. Then you would person truly done thing worthy dreaming about."

Sir Roger said astir 4,000 migrants are presently housed astatine the erstwhile Royal Air Force base, which was designed to process up to 1,000. Some had been determination 5 weeks, Sir Roger said.

So acold this twelvemonth 39,430 radical person made the unsafe travel from France connected tiny boats.

The UK is spending astir £7m a time connected hotels for asylum seekers - and the outgo is apt to rise, MPs heard past week.

The authorities has said successful the twelvemonth ending June 2022, determination were 63,089 asylum applications, 77% much than successful 2019.

The Guardian reported connected Sunday determination were present astatine slightest 8 cases of diphtheria and a lawsuit of MRSA astatine Manston.

Labour's shadiness location caput Yvette Cooper told BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme the authorities needed to "overhaul the full system".

She said: "We request a caller statement successful spot with France astir the Channel crossings, and we request a important summation successful the activities of the National Crime Agency due to the fact that we've got a proliferation of transgression activities successful the Channel that has accrued successful the mates of years."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The UK has a arrogant past of providing extortion for those who genuinely request it done our harmless and ineligible routes, precocious welcoming hundreds of thousands of radical from Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

"The nationalist rightly expects america to power immigration, astatine a clip erstwhile the fig of radical arriving successful the UK via tiny boats has reached grounds levels, placing unit connected the asylum strategy and stretching our capableness to enactment those successful need.

"We are utilizing each instrumentality astatine our disposal to deter amerciable migration, disrupt the concern exemplary of radical smugglers and relocate to Rwanda, those with nary close to beryllium successful the UK."

She was reappointed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said she had accepted she made a mistake, past week.