 Robert Jenrick said: "The priority now is to move people to other centres while engineers fix the power fault and repair any damage." Yesterday afternoon, coaches could be seen collecting the detainees from the centre to take them elsewhere - it isn't yet known where else they were taken. This will likely put added pressure on the country's immigration and detention system, coming after revelations of dire overcrowding at Manston migrant centre. Images and videos showed people sleeping on the floor as others reached through the fence for help. The Home Office had been planning to move some detainees from Manston to the centre before the incident ( UKNIP) However, there had been plans to move some of the detainees from Manston to Harmondsworth to help alleviate pressure. But the reported 700 detainees at Harmondsworth have now had to be distributed across a number of other centres, interrupting plans to cope with the Manston overcrowding. Speaking from inside){kind=link}
The government has now emptied Harmondsworth immigration centre after a night of chaos Friday was triggered by a power cut and lack of running water
The government is planning to clear Harmondsworth immigration centre after a night of chaos triggered by an ongoing power cut.
Riot police descended on the centre Friday evening shortly before 8pm and there were reports of protests and violence within the centre throughout the night.
It was triggered by a power cut which began Thursday at midnight, and left the detainees without electricity as they had no running water either.
Chaos plagued the centre throughout Friday night and into Saturday as detainees were left in the dark, with no idea what was going on, even as police remained just outside.