TheCable

Hundreds of migrants have been reportedly detained illegally at the immigration removal centres in the United Kingdom.

According to Home Office emails obtained by the BBC, the detention centres were used to hold about 450 people — described in an email as “overflow” from the migrant processing facility at Manston.

An influx of migrants into the UK had put “huge pressure” on the asylum system with the Home Office working “tirelessly to move people into hotels or other accommodation as quickly as possible,” BBC quoted the email to have read.

In October, about 4,000 people were reportedly held in tents at Manston, leading to overcrowding and disease.

The email said their detention was illegal, adding that alternative accommodation would need to be provided.

“Their detention is no longer legal as they can only be detained whilst their identity is locked down and then only for a maximum of 5 days,” one email was quoted to have read.

“Most have been there for a number of weeks, longer than some Manston cases. We need to move them to hotels ASAP…”

According to the emails, obtained under the freedom of information act, the Home Office permanent secretaries — the department’s most senior civil servants — were made aware of the concerns at the time.

The email was sent on November 4, the day after Suella Braverman, former home secretary, visited Manston amid pressure to get a grip on overcrowding at the site.

Braverman had resigned her appointment under Liz Truss, former British prime minister, as the UK home secretary after using her personal email to get support from a colleague for her proposed migration policy.

Until her resignation, Braverman was vocal about her “aspirations” to cut the overall migration figure amid a growing clamour for the government to take control of immigration levels.

She had also said she would change the law to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats.

She was, however, reappointed as home secretary by Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister.

Although, Sunak faced criticism for re-appointing Braverman days after she stepped down over a violation, he said her reappointment was a “second chance” after she promised to “work hard to control our borders”.