Government to spend £2m on new Dover migrant centre

Move sends ‘wrong signal’, says MP, amid calls for money to be spent on closing small boats route across Channel

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, by Border Force officers on Sunday
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, by Border Force officers on Sunday Credit:  Steve Parsons/PA

The Home Office is spending £2 million on a permanent migrant reception centre in Dover, as MPs said the money should be spent on stopping arrivals.

The centre is being developed at Dover docks to process hundreds of migrants crossing the Channel, after complaints that the current facility is not fit for purpose.

The purpose-built centre will enable Border Force and immigration officers to test, check and interview migrants as well as to feed them. It is expected to be run by more than 40 staff and cost an estimated £1.5 million a year. 

MPs are, however, unhappy that it sends the wrong signal to migrants, people-smugglers and the French government in suggesting that illegal cross-Channel migration in small boats cannot be stopped.

Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover, said: "I would rather we focused our efforts on closing the small boats route than investing more and more millions of pounds in permanent structures."

It comes as more than 11,300 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year, including a record daily high of 592 last Thursday. That is 3,000 more than the 8,400 people who crossed in the whole of last year.

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The current Dover intake unit – a temporary, tent-like structure – has been criticised by official inspectors and the home affairs committee, while Border Force and immigration officers have complained of being overwhelmed by the number of migrants.

On a spot visit, the committee found 56 asylum seekers, including babies and young children, "packed into a small waiting room" at the unit.

Yvette Cooper, the committee chairman, said the facility – where "detained" asylum seekers wait for onward placement and screening – was "wholly inappropriate" and the conditions were "shocking".

Migrants including women, children and babies were in cramped space in the building, where they had to stay for up to 48 hours, with some forced to rest on thin mattresses on the floor.

Lucy Moreton, of the Border Force and Immigration officers' union, said the temporary unit – created two years ago before the surge in migrant arrivals – was unsuitable.

The new building will be carpeted and there will be seats, storage space for migrants' clothes, and dedicated spaces where they can screened and interviewed, as well as facilities to prepare food and drink for them.

"It's a recognition that this is a permanent fact of our lives going forward and we have to treat these people better than we have done," Ms Moreton said.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We are working day and night to stop dangerous small boat crossings, facilitated by criminal gangs who are putting lives at risk.

"We seek to ensure that our staff have suitable conditions to work in and deliver for the public. The Government's New Plan for Immigration is the only credible long-term plan to fix the broken asylum system and bring this exploitation to an end."

The plan proposes that illegal immigrants will be denied asylum and face restricted residency rights in a bid to deter Channel crossings, while those who come through legitimate routes will be entitled to apply for citizenship.

It also proposes a network of reception centres to house 8,000 migrants, designed to replace the ad hoc temporary housing of people in hotels, hostels and other Home Office or local authority accommodation.

Asylum seekers will be allocated to the dedicated asylum centres in order to cut costs, simplify the application process for the Government and provide a less appealing draw for migrants.

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