‘Rewriting rules’ on standards at migrant holding centre ‘like Soviet Union’

Regulations introduced in December created a new category of holding centre at Manston, Kent, that allows migrants to be held for up to four days

Temporary buildings which are used to house people thought to migrants at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility in Thanet, Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

The Government “rewriting the rules” on the standards required at short-term holding facilities for migrants is “a bit like the Soviet Union”, Parliament heard.

Regulations introduced in December have created a new category of holding centre at Manston, Kent, that allows Channel migrants to be held for up to four days, up from 24 hours.

This was in response to chaos last year, when the processing centre became severely overcrowded, with many people held for much longer than the legal maximum and in “unacceptable” conditions, due to a surge in small boat crossings.