07 Nov DPG Calls for Accountability in Manston Public Inquiry
DPG continues to push for justice for asylum seekers subjected to unlawful detention and inhumane conditions at Manston Short-Term Holding Facility in Autumn 2022, when overcrowding, neglect, and mistreatment became rampant as a result of a Home Office decision not to move people to asylum support accommodation within 24 hours.
Manston is designed to house 1,600 people for a matter of hours; however, over 4,000 people were detained there, in some cases for more than a month. Our clients report sleeping on the floor of tents with hundreds of others with insufficient access to bedding, showers or food. We also understand that physical violence and racist language were used against asylum seekers, that detainees attempted to self-harm using barbed wire and that people were locked in isolation vans allegedly as a form of punishment. Reports of women and children being forced to sleep next to unrelated men, toilets overflowing with faeces, and inadequate access to healthcare, including the tragic miscarriage of a pregnant woman, highlight the scale of the crisis. Tragically, Hussein Haseeb Ahmed, a Kurdish asylum seeker, also died after contracting diphtheria at Manston.
We represent a number clients who have been deeply affected by their experiences at Manston, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, families with young children and vulnerable adult men who are survivors of torture and trafficking.
The public inquiry, initially promised in 2022 and established to investigate and report on the “decisions, actions and circumstances” which led to the conditions outlined above, has faced significant delays as reported in the Guardian this week. In September 2024, the Home Secretary downgraded the inquiry from a statutory to an independent inquiry, citing cost concerns. This change means the inquiry has fewer powers to compel witnesses, a move that has raised further concerns about its ability to uncover the full extent of the mistreatment at Manston.
DPG is committed to ensuring that the voices of those affected by the crisis at Manston are heard. We continue to advocate for a public inquiry that holds those responsible to account and ensures that the Home Office takes full responsibility for its failure to protect the most vulnerable.
Emily Soothill, partner at Deighton Pierce Glynn, says, “Our clients are still waiting for answers as to how this was allowed to happen and accountability for the significant harm they suffered. These are highly vulnerable individuals who were treated with cruelty, and it is the responsibility of the Home Office to ensure that this inquiry is allowed to proceed without further delays.”
DPG’s Manston team can be contacted on Manston@dpglaw.co.uk for further information.
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