Hundreds protest outside UK migrant centre as government pledges to speed up asylum process

Hundreds of people staged a protest in the pouring rain outside Manston detention centre in the southeast of England on Sunday, demanding it be shut down. Action Against Detention and Deportation demonstrators chanted and banged metal pots outside the Kent base, which has been at the centre of the immigration crisis this week after it became dangerously overcrowded. People in the umbrella-clad crowd shouted “shut Manston down”, while some unfurled a banner reading: “The enemy doesn’t arrive by boat, he arrives by limousine”. Several people raised placards reading “no one is illegal”, “refugees welcome” and “Braverman out now”. Videos posted online by protesters showed that appeared to be a mother, father and their baby waving at them from inside the facility. UK MP slammed for unlawful decision on migrants, says UK faces ‘invasion’ It comes after it was revealed the former military base, which opened as a processing centre in February intending to hold a maximum of 1,600 people for 24 hours at a time, was housing around 4,000 for weeks on end. Some asylum seekers described the conditions inside as being like “a prison” and begged for help. On Wednesday, a young girl threw a bottle containing a letter, which said there were pregnant women and sick detainees inside the centre, over the perimeter fence to a news agency photographer. By Friday, Downing Street said the number of people at Manston had fallen to 2,600, with 1,200 removed from the site within the previous four days. Also on Sunday, it was announced that British Home Secretary Suella Braverman had pledged to speed up the asylum system with the nationwide roll-out of a pilot scheme to streamline the application process. The eight-week trial in Leeds doubled the average number of claims processed and reduced the time asylum seekers wait for a first interview by 40 per cent, according to the Home Office. Braverman said the scheme will be extended to deal with 100,000 people awaiting a decision across Britain. She said: “It is not right that the British people are picking up a £2-billion [US$2.28-billion] bill every year because the asylum system has been broken by an unprecedented wave of illegal migration. “We still have a long way to go but these steps show our commitment to tackling the asylum backlog. “Processing claims more quickly will help remove those who illegally come here from safe countries, while also ensuring those in genuine need receive our protection. “There is no one silver bullet but we are redoubling our efforts on multiple fronts to tackle this unacceptable situation.” What’s next for Suella Braverman, enemy of UK’s ‘tofu-eating wokerati’? The Home Office said it has also responded to the crisis by increasing the number of caseworkers by 80 per cent, from 597 to more than 1,000, with a further 500 staff to be taken on by March 2023. It said it has improved staff turnover by 30 per cent by introducing a retention allowance and has streamlined process through digitisation set to be operational UK-wide by May 2023. Braverman’s announcement comes as Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is “totally committed” to dealing with the issue of migrants crossing the Channel. Dowden told the BBC there is no easy “panacea” but voters are entitled to expect ministers to “grip” the problem. He said: “This is a totally deplorable situation. It is dangerous for the people concerned. It enriches [people -trafficking] gangs. That is exactly why the prime minister is totally committed to gripping this.” Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said Sunak is set to revive the British Bill of Rights as part of his government’s strategy to deal with the small boats crisis. He said the legislation – giving the UK courts supremacy over the European Court of Human Rights – will return to parliament “in the coming weeks”. When it was introduced under then-premier Boris Johnson, ministers said it would prevent judges in the Strasbourg court from interfering in the government’s controversial policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed. However, the Bill was shelved by Liz Truss when she became prime minister in September after government sources warned it was “unlikely to progress in its current form”. Nevertheless, the Bill of Rights is unlikely to provide a quick fix as it is also highly controversial and the government is likely to face a tough battle – particularly in the House of Lords – to get it on to the statute book. In a statement, Raab said: “It builds on the UK’s proud tradition of liberty by strengthening freedom of speech, reinjecting a healthy dose of common sense to the system and ending abuse of our laws”.

Hundreds protest outside UK migrant centre as government pledges to speed up asylum process

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Manston detention centre in southeast of England has become overcrowded as arrivals surge British Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Sunday pledged to speed up the asylum system

Manston detention centre in southeast of England has become overcrowded as arrivals surge

British Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Sunday pledged to speed up the asylum system