Asylum seekers will receive funded legal representation at an inquiry into a catalogue of failures at a centre in Kent where small boat arrivals are processed, after a legal challenge by detainees.
Manston, a short-term holding facility outside Ramsgate, was established in January 2022 to deal with the increasing numbers of asylum seekers crossing the Channel to the UK in dinghies.
By the second half of that year it had descended into chaos. Despite reports that ministers at the time were repeatedly warned about the unfolding crisis, problems continued for several months between the late summer of 2022 until its temporary closure in November of that year.
Sixteen Manston detainees challenged a decision by Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, to downgrade an inquiry into what happened there from a statutory public inquiry, which can compel witnesses to give evidence under oath, to a non-statutory inquiry with no funded legal representation for the asylum seekers involved.
But just days before a high court hearing was due to take place, the Home Office agreed to “upgrade” the inquiry again.
In a high court order agreed this week, the Home Office accepted there would be an independent inquiry which will be held in public and include funded legal representation for claimants as the chair of the inquiry, whose appointment has yet to be confirmed, “sees fit”, along with “effective access to documents”. It will still be a non-statutory inquiry.
The situation at Manston became critical in the autumn of 2022, when the site, which was designed to hold a maximum of 1,600 people, was accommodating 4,000.
The overcrowding led to an outbreak of diphtheria and scabies. Asylum seekers were forced to sleep on filthy floors or flattened cardboard boxes, while toilets were overflowing with faeces. Women and children were forced to sleep close to unrelated men and there were claims of assaults by guards.
About 18,000 people – out of a total of 29,000 processed between June and November 2022 – were detained there beyond the 24-hour limit. The longest recorded period of detention was 32 days.
On 19 November, a Kurdish asylum seeker, Hussein Haseeb Ahmed, who was processed at Manston, died in hospital after contracting diphtheria.
Calls by asylum seekers and human rights organisations for a full investigation into what went wrong at Manston have hit various roadblocks.
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A public inquiry was requested in November 2022 by asylum seekers held there. In March 2024 the then home secretary, James Cleverly, agreed to a statutory public inquiry. Cooper’s decision upon reaching office to opt for a non-statutory inquiry, with no requirement to hold hearings in public, is thought to have been made to save money.
Lewis Kett, a solicitor from Duncan Lewis, said: “The inquiry will be vital to ensure that lessons are learned and any repetition of the crisis at Manston can be avoided.”
In separate legal proceedings, more than 100 former detainees held at Manston for more than 24 hours are suing the Home Office for unlawful detention there. Settlement of these claims could cost the government tens of millions of pounds.
The Home Office declined to comment on this week’s high court order, although sources said their commitment to conduct an Article 3 compliant investigation into what went wrong at Manston, which examines inhuman or degrading treatment, has been consistent throughout.
Source: theguardian.com
