A 10-year-old boy who crossed the Channel in a small boat was denied a phone call to his mother at an immigration centre in Kent, according to a new inspection that found a number of ongoing failures at processing sites.
A review of three short-term holding immigration centres found that, while the sites were operating better than 2022, officials are failing to refer traumatised children for help and migrants were still being held for far too long – with one child held for 51 hours at Manston detention centre.
The unannounced inspection of Western Jet Foil, Manston and Kent Intake Units took place at the beginning of July. During the previous six months, 1,147 unaccompanied children had been held at the sites, almost all at the Kent unit which is set up for young people.
At Western Jet Foil, there were two cases of lone children being held in breach of the 24-hour limit; one for 42 hours and one for 37 hours.
At Manston, 11 children who were accompanied by family members had been held for over 24 hours. Accompanied children can legally be held for up to 72 hours.
Inspectors found that a 10-year-old lone Afghan boy had a welfare interview at the Kent site at 10:38pm without an appropriate adult. At the start of the interview, he said: “I want to speak to my mum, please. I want a mobile,” but his request was denied by an officer.
Inspectors also found that officials were failing to refer some children for help. In one case, no safeguarding referral was made for a 16-year-old boy who had been held for ransom and physically abused in Libya for about three months.
In another case, there was no referral for a 16-year-old girl who had been sold to pay family debts and trafficked to the UK.
One Care & Custody officer had also been dismissed in the six months leading up to the inspection. This was for “aggressively pulling a sleeping child to his feet and making disparaging comments to him”.
Between December 2023 and March 2024, 10,316 detainees had been held in Manston, which is used for people who have just arrived in the UK from small boat crossings.
The inspection found that nine lone children had been mistaken for adults and sent to Manston in the months up to June 2024.
The site became extremely overcrowded in October 2022, with migrants reportedly sleeping on cardboard and one man dying of diphtheria.
Sixteen claimants who were held at the site have brought legal action against the home secretary, arguing that there should be a statutory inquiry into the “deplorable conditions and mistreatment suffered by thousands of detainees.”
HM Chief inspector Charlie Taylor identified four priority concerns at the three sites. These included the length of detention being too long for many migrants, issues with safeguarding referrals, failure to ensure that detainees had fresh air or a bed, and lack of interpretation.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Since the inspection took place in July, under the new government we have already taken action to address some of HMIP’s recommendations.
“We are improving our processes around safeguarding and professional interpretation for arrivals, and any gaps will be identified by frontline staff at the earliest opportunity.
“We will continue working closely with the Inspectorate to deliver further improvements.”
