An illegal immigrant died in hospital after falling ill at the Manston processing centre in Kent, the UK Home Office has said.
The Home Office said the man died in hospital on Nov. 19 after “becoming unwell” in the temporary holding facility for illegal immigrants.
According to British media reports, the man arrived in the UK on Nov. 12 after crossing the English Channel illegally on a small boat.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the Home Office said: “We express our heartfelt condolences to all those affected. We take the safety of those in our care extremely seriously and are profoundly saddened by this event.”
“A post-mortem examination will take place so it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time,” the statement said.
A Home Office spokesperson said there was “no evidence at this stage to suggest that this tragic death was caused by an infectious disease.”
The main opposition Labour Party has called for a “full investigation” into the incident.
Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “We send deepest condolences to the family of the man who has died after staying at Manston. There will need to be a full investigation into what has happened in this tragic case.”
Worsening Crisis
The Manston holding centre has made headlines over the past few weeks, with pro-immigration campaigners threatening legal action against UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman over conditions at the facility.At one point as many as 4,000 people were being detained at the site, which is designed to hold just 1,600. This number later dropped to within capacity.
Illegal immigrants are meant to be at Manston for only short periods of time before being moved to the Home Office’s asylum accommodation, but some people have been held for longer periods due to a lack of alternative accommodation.
More than 40,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the English Channel to reach the UK this year.
According to figures from the Home Office, the number of illegal crossings has soared in recent years, with 28,526 people detected in 2021, compared to 8,466 in 2020, 1,843 in 2019, and 299 in 2018.
In an article in the Sunday Telegraph last week, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said a “chronic shortage of acceptable accommodation” for record numbers of illegal immigrants has forced the government to house them in expensive hotels, burdening the taxpayer with an “unacceptable” cost.
He stressed: “‘Hotel Britain’ must end and be replaced with simple, functional accommodation that does not create an additional pull factor” for illegal immigration.
