Migrants arrive in Dover 'wet and with petrol burns', watchdog says

Migrants who cross the Channel in small boats are arriving in Dover soaking wet and with petrol burns, a watchdog says.

Chief inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor, has raised concerns about the Home Office's "haphazard" arrangements for Channel migrants.

He said families were "crammed into facilities where some basic safeguards were not in place".

The government said it had made "significant improvements" in the way it deals with migrant arrivals.

In an overview of inspections carried out over the last year, Mr Taylor said: "I remain very concerned about the haphazard arrangements in place for those who have crossed the Channel in small boats.

"People are arriving wet, sometimes with petrol burns. People are still having to occasionally spend a night in a tent without proper bedding."

Mr Taylor, who will be scrutinising conditions on the migrant deportation flights to Rwanda, if they go ahead, also said families were "crammed into facilities where some basic safeguards were not in place".

He said the Kent Intake Unit was like a "hospital waiting room with bright neon lights on all night".

He also said there had been "insufficient preparation to provide for vulnerable adults and children", including in one case where a man who had a conviction for a relatively serious offence was spending the night in the Kent Intake facility with children and families.

Mr Taylor said he expected there to be "significant improvements" at new facilities being put in place at the disused Manston airfield.

Some 850 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats this week, bringing the total so far this year to more than 14,150, according to Ministry of Defence figures collated by the BBC.

Last year, 28,526 people crossed in small boats - up from 8,404 in 2020.

The government says it has made "significant improvements" in the way it deals with people arriving in small boats.

The temporary Tug Haven facility closed in January and now there is a new "fit for purpose" system with arrivals, going through initial checks at Dover before going on to Manston for "further processing where appropriate", a government spokesman said.

"The facilities allow arrivals to be held in a safe and secure environment where any safeguarding and vulnerability issues can be dealt with."

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