Migrant speaks anonymously of ‘disgusting and humiliating’ conditions at Manston House
ITV News Meridian's Tony Green spoke to a man referred to as 'Ahmed' about what he and 95 others went through.
A refugee has spoken anonymously about the "disgusting and humiliating" conditions he faced at a migrant processing facility.
'Ahmed', is one of 96 people taking the Government to High Court, after their time at Manston House, Kent, in September and October 2022.Large numbers, including families with children, pregnant women, and vulnerable adults with medical conditions, stayed at the centre while it was overcrowded and understaffed.
In the autumn of 2022, the centre was dangerously overcapacity - not because of an unexpected surge in channel crossings, but because the processing system had slowed down.In their High Court claim, 96 people have said that by detaining them, the Home Secretary went beyond legal powers, and their treatment was inhuman and degrading.
Manston House was designed so that people would stay there for 24 hours, but Ahmed was there for 24 days.
High Court judges will decide if by keeping people there for so long, the Government broke its own detention policy.
Ahmed has since been granted refugee status and conditions at Manston have improved.
Ahmed was asked if he was worried about being welcomed in the UK after he arrived here on a small boat.
Ahmed had travelled by boat to Turkey, then walked across Europe, and travelled in a dinghy across the channel for 10 hours. When he arrived in Dover, he was taken to Manston for processing.
"I heard, they put you in a detention centre to check that you are not a criminal in the UK, and then they will put us in the hotel to start the process," Ahmed said.
"They just put a tent and they put you inside without any preparation and it was a countless number of tents.
"It was very disgusting and very humiliating and very bad and hopeless.
"That night in Kent, it was very cold, it was in October. They didn't give us any blankets and we were on the floor. I was freezing that night, but I was hoping that was only for one night."
Coming to the UK on a small boat is illegal, to which Ahmed said: "Illegal is not like you are inhuman, people have the right to claim asylum. They cannot treat you like an animal.
"[England] is a very nice country, and when I was released, I see it, everybody is welcoming and everybody is wanting to take care of themselves want to live a normal life."
A solicitor, representing those making a claim against the government, describes what he would say about the public perception of this court case.
Thomas Munns, a Caseworker at Duncan Lewis Solicitors "It's sometimes hard to find words [to describe the conditions at Manston], having read some of the witness statements and the accounts that have been given by clients.
"I would hope that people will be concerned about how the government uses the power that it's given to it.
"I think if they were to take a second to think about what the government put these people through, they might be a bit more sympathetic towards those individuals and any compensation that they may or may not receive for them."
Manston House, was designed to have a capacity of 1600 people, but there became a bottleneck with more than 4,000.
There were outbreaks of scabies gastroenteritis and one person died of diphtheria.
The last hearing at the High Court granted anonymity to all 96 claimants.
Ahmed and 95 other people claim they were put in overcrowded, unhygienic and unsafe conditions to constitute inhumane or degrading treatment.
There are very few images of what the inside of Manston House looks like because everyone taken there had their phone taken away.
The court case is ongoing, and the next hearing is scheduled for 23 October 2024.
ITV News Meridian asked the Home Office for a comment, but a spokesperson said, as court proceedings are active, “it would be inappropriate to comment."
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