Manston: Home secretary Suella Braverman visits Kent to discuss ongoing illegal immigration situation

Home secretary Suella Braverman said: “='Many of them are facilitated by criminal gangs. Some are members of criminal gangs.' Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

THE home secretary is visiting Dover this afternoon as she struggles with the crisis at the Manston asylum processing site and small boat crossings surge.

Fareham MP Suella Braverman will visit Manston to speak to staff and get an update on the crisis, Downing Street has said.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: ‘The home secretary is visiting Western Jet Foil and Coastguard HQ in Dover this morning.

READ ALSO: Haslar Immigration Removal Centre proposal raises serious concerns

‘She’ll meet with Border Force staff and military personnel to discuss operations in the Channel, she’ll then be in Manston this afternoon where she will speak with staff and receive an update on the situation on the ground.’

Her visit comes following admissions that the Manston asylum processing centre in Kent is not operating legally.

Asylum seekers have been left at London’s Victoria station without accommodation after being taken out of the processing centre.

Press access is not permitted, meaning she is not scheduled to take questions from the media. Instead the Home Office is set to issue words and pictures.

Concerns have been raised about the potential fast-tracking the reopening of Haslar Immigration Removal Centre in Gosport.

Gosport Borough Council leader Peter Chegwyn has said that the growing alarm about the Manston centre is destroying confidence in the Home Office and raising concerns about how the Haslar site would be run.

He said: ‘The Home Office doesn’t appear to have a clue about what is a growing problem.

‘We have concerns having seen what’s going on in Manston. The government needs to get its act together.

‘People are saying that Manston isn’t fit for purpose – it’s the Home Office that's not fit for purpose.’

Meanwhile, the Downing Street spokeswoman said that Albanian nationals made up to over a third of small boat arrivals this year, with rising crossings putting ‘unprecedented pressure’ on the UK asylum system.

She did not deny the government trying to strike Rwanda-style deals with Belize, Peru and Paraguay.

‘We do plan to negotiate similar deals with other countries, akin to the Rwanda partnership, but it’s not helpful for us to comment on speculation around potential discussions,’ she said.