A public inquiry has revealed the shocking conditions that asylum seekers faced at the Manston detention centre in Kent last year. The hearing has heard that the facility was “overcrowded, squalid and unsanitary”, with newly arrived migrants forced to sleep on filthy floors or flattened cardboard boxes.
The investigation is examining the decisions, actions and circumstances that led to the deterioration of conditions at Manston between June and November 2022. At the height of the crisis, the centre, designed for a maximum of 1,600 people, was holding 4,000 detainees.
Overcrowding at the former RAF base resulted in outbreaks of diphtheria and scabies. Women and children were forced to sleep in close proximity to unrelated men, and there were reports of assaults by guards. A Kurdish asylum seeker, Husein Haseeb Ahmed, died in hospital after contracting diphtheria, while a pregnant Syrian woman suffered a miscarriage after being denied immediate medical attention.
Home Office officials have admitted that they “completely lost our grip” on the situation at Manston. Documents show that 18,000 of the 29,000 people processed at the centre during the six-month period were detained for much longer than the 24-hour limit.
The public inquiry, which is non-statutory and cannot compel witnesses, is being led by Sophie Cartwright KC. It will examine the human experiences of those held at Manston, as well as the actions of staff working on the site, some of whom are accused of misconduct.
The inquiry was first announced by former Home Secretary James Cleverly in March 2024, but was later downgraded from a statutory to an independent investigation by his successor, Yvette Cooper, who cited the projected £26 million cost as a reason for the change.
