Frustration over influx of Manston asylum seekers
Over 150 sent to city from refugee centre with no prior warning to council sparking ‘incident response’
MORE than 150 asylum seekers have been sent to live temporarily in a Birmingham hotel from the controversial Manston refugee centre in Kent, the Post can reveal.
The Home Office took the decision to send the group to the city in November.
We understand the Home Office acted unilaterally, only informing local agencies after making arrangements, to the frustration of council and health officials.
Regular screening since of the hotel’s new residents, led by Birmingham’s public health team, has confirmed no new cases of diphtheria among them - a major worry after an outbreak inside the overcrowded facility they had left.
Birmingham City Council confirmed it had ensured regular health screening, advice and support was being given to the asylum seekers, who will likely remain until their claim is processed or they are found other temporary accommodation. A council spokesperson said: “Birmingham City Council was made aware of the dispersal of asylum seekers at the beginning of November from Manston directly into a Birmingham hotel and instigated an immediate incident management response, working in partnership with the UK Health Security Agency and Birmingham and Solihull NHS. This has included:
▪ Providing up to date guidance to GP practices, hotels and commissioned providers
▪ Setting up proactive swabbing, screening, vaccination and treatment (where required) of new arrivals from Manston
“To date there have been no diphtheria infections picked up through the swabbing or screening process,” they added.
The dispersal of groups from Manston to hotels and hostels around the country has come under fire.
More than 4,000 asylum seekers, many of them having arrived by boat across the Channel, had been held at the Manston ‘processing facility’, despite its maximum capacity being only 1,600.
Many had been there several weeks even though the site was only designed to host people for up to 24 hours. The overcrowding and an outbreak of diphtheria triggered the transfers. Reports say as many as 50 cases of diphtheria have been detected among those recently in Manston now living elsewhere.
Birmingham City Council has previously raised concerns with the Home Office that it is struggling to manage ‘unplanned’ groups of new arrivals, particularly as other local authorities are not being asked to step up so readily.
Councillor John Cotton, the city council’s Cabinet Member for Social Justice, Community Safety, and Equalities, said: “Birmingham is proud to be a City of Sanctuary, a place that will always extend the hand of welcome to people fleeing war or persecution in their homelands. “We continue to host asylum seekers and refugees and we are proud to play our part in supporting people who need our help.
“But the Government’s failed asylum policies are creating a crisis. Continued unplanned arrivals to the city add a huge amount of pressure on the wider support systems that are
needed to help
newly arrived people.
“The Government have not kept their promise to ensure other local authority areas participate in the asylum system and they’re also denying us the full resources we need to support vulnerable people who need help.”
Professor Jim McManus, head of the Association of Directors of Public Health, had earlier said: “The Home Office and directors of public health can work together very constructively to address the health
Continued unplanned arrivals add a huge amount of pressure on the wider support systems needed to help newly arrived people Cllr Cotton
issues of refugees. Sadly, that hasn’t been the case this time and as a result we’ve seen preventable diseases spread across the country, harming refugees and costing us much more than preventing them would have done. “To say this is regrettable is an understatement.” We asked the Home Office to comment on its decision to place asylum seekers from Manston in a Birmingham hotel, but were told they would not confirm any arrangements.
We will not be identifying the hotel.