Channel migrants are in line for millions of pounds in compensation from the Home Office for being “unlawfully” detained in “inhumane” conditions.
Almost 200 asylum seekers have lodged legal claims for their unlawful detention and mistreatment by the Home Office at the Manston migrant holding centre near Dover, citing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Allegations include sexual assault, physical abuse and theft of property by guards, as well as disease-ridden, dirty and cold conditions, with outbreaks of diphtheria and scabies, forcible separation of families and denial of medical aid.
The Home Office has refused to settle, forcing lawyers for the asylum seekers to pursue the claims in court.
Standard compensation awards for detaining migrants for longer than the 24 hours allowed by law amount to £500 per 24 hours of unlawful detention, but courts can hand out aggravated or exemplary damages.
The Home Office estimates some 18,000 migrants went through Manston, opening the door to further compensation claims for their mistreatment.
Migrant awarded £203,995
A migrant unlawfully detained at Brook House immigration removal centre at Gatwick for three months and subjected to degrading or inhuman treatment was awarded £203,995 in damages last October.
Manston is currently used as a short-term holding facility for Channel arrivals but defence minister Luke Pollard said on Monday its role could be expanded to also take migrants from hotels, under Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to use more military sites to house asylum seekers.
Internal documents have warned that the failures at the former RAF base under the last Conservative Government in 2022 are likely to be “reputationally damaging” to the department.
The Home Office announced a public inquiry in February into what happened at Manston between June and November 2022, when it became so overcrowded that it housed 4,000 migrants, three times its official capacity.
The Home Office is accused of unlawfully detaining thousands of migrants in Manston beyond the 24 hours stipulated under its own rules.
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, former prime ministers, may have to give evidence, as may Dame Priti Patel, Suella Braverman and Grant Shapps, the former home secretaries.
Six leading legal firms are representing 194 asylum seekers who have so far come forward to seek compensation for unlawful detention and breaches of their article three rights under the ECHR. Article three protects against torture, inhuman or degrading treatment.
One of the six firms successfully took legal action to halt the Conservative Government’s attempt to deport Channel migrants to Rwanda in 2022. This culminated in a Supreme Court defeat that delayed and ultimately scuppered the scheme.
The inquiry could reveal internal Home Office legal advice to support claims that ministers were warned Channel migrants were being detained for unlawfully long periods.
Migrants are supposed to be quickly screened and processed at Manston before transferring to taxpayer-funded hotels or other accommodation.
According to Deighton Pierce Glynn, one of the lawyers, “detainees” were subjected to physical violence, racist language and locked in isolation vans allegedly as a form of punishment. Some attempted to self-harm using barbed wire, it is claimed.
A Home Office briefing note lists “incidents and allegations” at Manston as including “a death in custody, unlawful detention of adults and children, and Home Office officials charged with conspiracy to steal and misconduct in public office.”
The note said allegations also “include misfeasance in public office, breaches of the ECHR, breaches of… duties to safeguard children, breaches of the short-term holding facility rules, breaches of planning permission, and breaches of health, safety, fire, and food safety regulations”.
“The investigation of the conditions at Manston will probably be reputationally damaging for the Home Office,” it added.
According to the lawyers, migrants were kept in tents which were “extremely cold” and the lack of beds meant many slept on the floor next to strangers with only thin blankets.
There was also limited access to hot water, soap, showers and toilets, and no access to clean clothes, it is claimed.
Scabies was said to have spread throughout the camp, infecting many detainees, and there were cases of diphtheria, which was linked to the death of at least one migrant.
Some families were forcibly separated while unaccompanied children were detained at Manston, contrary to the rules, it is claimed, and there was very limited access to phones.
A Home Office spokesman said: “It would be inappropriate to comment while the inquiry into events at Manston between June and November 2022, and any related litigation, are ongoing.”
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