Braverman under pressure to fix migrant crisis as legal threat looms

The embattled Home Secretary is under mounting pressure to get a handle on the migrant crisis as the Government faces potential legal action over an asylum centre with conditions branded ‘dire’ by senior MPs.Immigration minister Robert Jenrick estimated about 3,500 people remained at the Manston facility in Kent on Wednesday night – despite its maximum capacity of 1,600 – as his boss faced questions over what will be done to address overcrowding at the site, as well as small boat crossings in general.Suella Braverman was also under fire from the prime minister of Albania, who accused Britain of becoming like a ‘madhouse’ with a culture of ‘finding scapegoats’ during a migration crisis where ‘failed policies’ are to blame.Edi Rama lashed out at the Cabinet minister’s ‘crazy’ choice of language in a combative Commons debate this week, in which she claimed there is an ‘invasion’ of England by people crossing the Channel.The Government is currently procuring hotels to relieve pressure on the Manston centre, near Ramsgate, but Mr Jenrick said he suspects it will take roughly seven days for numbers to drop to an ‘acceptable level’.The situation had been branded a ‘breach of humane conditions’, with some 4,000 people previously thought to be held at the site.Mr Jenrick also confirmed the Government had received ‘initial contact for a judicial review’ over Manston, but could not comment on who was behind the challenge for legal reasons.The site has been at the centre of a row over the treatment of migrants seeking a new home in the UK in recent days, with four parliamentary committee chairs writing to the Home Secretary on Wednesday to express their ‘deep concerns’ over the ‘dire’ conditions at the facility.On Wednesday afternoon, a young girl threw a bottle containing a letter over the perimeter fence to a PA news agency photographer, claiming there were pregnant women and sick detainees there.The note, written in broken English and addressed to ‘journalists, organisations, everyone’ appeared to suggest 50 families had been held there for more than 30 days.Asylum seekers were also reportedly left at London’s Victoria station without accommodation after being taken off the premises.The group of 11 men were driven to the capital from Kent on Tuesday as part of a larger group, according to The Guardian.Mr Jenrick suggested the current situation may be neither humane nor legal, telling Sky News’ The Take with Sophy Ridge he expects Manston ‘will be returned to a well-functioning and certainly legally compliant site very rapidly’.Speaking to ITV’s Peston, he said: ‘We’re procuring more hotels in all parts of the country, decanting the migrants from Manston to those as quickly as we can.’And once we’ve done that, we’ll be able to restore Manston to the kind of acceptable humane conditions that all of us would want to see.’Earlier, the four committee chiefs piled further pressure on the Home Secretary to explain how the Government will get a grip on both the situation at the Kent facility and the migrant crisis in general.In a joint letter to Ms Braverman, the senior MPs called for clarity on how the Home Office will cut the number of treacherous small boat crossings and reduce ‘as a matter of urgency’ the backlog in cases currently within the asylum system. I have tried to work night and day to ensure that the Manston site is not just legally compliant but is a humane and compassionate place where we welcome those migrants, treat them appropriately and then they leave quickly to alternative accommodationRobert Jenrick, Immigration ministerThey also expressed their ‘deep concerns’ over the ‘dire’ conditions at Manston, asking what will be done to address the current situation and avoid overcrowding in future.Mr Jenrick said the ‘initial contact for a judicial review’ was ‘not unusual’ as it concerned a ‘highly litigious area of policy’.But he said, as the minister responsible, he wants to ensure everything is conducted ‘appropriately and within the law’.’I have tried to work night and day to ensure that the Manston site is not just legally compliant but is a humane and compassionate place where we welcome those migrants, treat them appropriately and then they leave quickly to alternative accommodation,’ he told Sky News.The letter from the committee chiefs said reports in recent days suggested conditions had ‘substantially deteriorated’ at the site, and that ‘unacceptably long stays have increased, including for families and unaccompanied children’.It was signed by the chairs of the Home Affairs Committee, Justice Committee, Joint Committee on Human Rights and Women and Equalities Committee, and requests a response by November 16.It followed a warning from council chiefs that Kent was at ‘breaking point’ as a result of the migrant situation, with the potential for disorder at Manston and the risk of far-right violence.The leaders of 14 authorities wrote to the Home Secretary calling on the Government to stop using the county as an ‘easy fix for what is a national, strategic issue’, claiming they were under disproportionate pressure because of their location.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has described the migrant crisis as a ‘serious and escalating problem’ and admitted that ‘not enough’ asylum claims are being processed, but insisted the Government is getting a grip on the situation.He has backed Ms Braverman’s handling of the issue, saying she has taken ‘significant steps’ to address the problem of overcrowding at Manston.Mr Sunak was challenged at PMQs by Sir Keir Starmer, who said responsibility for an asylum system which Ms Braverman described as ‘broken’ lies with the Tories, who have been in power since 2010.Sources steered away from reports the Home Secretary is considering alternative destinations to Rwanda under the UK’s controversial migrant deportation scheme, with possible options said to include Paraguay, Peru and Belize.About 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year, with the Home Secretary criticised for warning of an ‘invasion’ on the south coast.Provisional Government figures to date show 39,913 people have arrived in the UK after making the journey.