The Civil and Commercial Services union, the UK’s largest civil servant union, includes Border Force staff, law enforcement officers and officials who make decisions about whether to hold small boat arrivals among its members. The union is joining legal action brought by the charity Detention Action and a woman who was placed at Manston, where small boat arrivals are initially processed. Detainees are only supposed to be held at the center for 24 hours and the facility has a maximum capacity of 1,600. In recent weeks people have been held there for periods exceeding 32 days and there were around 4,000 on the site, although the Home Office says it has now moved many people elsewhere. On Thursday, the government admitted the centre, near Ramsgate in Kent, was not operating legally, with climate minister Graham Stuart saying: “None of us are comfortable with that.” The announcement that the union representing part of its own workforce is launching legal action against the Home Office comes after a turbulent week for the department. Along with growing concerns about conditions at Manston, including overcrowding, the spread of infectious diseases and poor hygiene, it has been revealed by the Guardian that groups of asylum seekers released from Manston have been dumped at Victoria station in central London. On Saturday, police confirmed that the bombing at an immigration processing center in Dover, Western Jet Foil, was motivated by a far-right terrorist ideology. Andrew Leak, 66, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, is believed to have taken his own life after throwing two or three “crude” incendiary devices at the Kent site. Counter-Terrorism Police South East (CTPSE) said evidence had been recovered indicating the attack was “carried out by a terrorist ideology”. Separately, there was disruption at the Harmondsworth immigration removal center near Heathrow in the early hours of Saturday after a prolonged power cut at the centre. Speaking about Manston’s legal challenge, PCS chief negotiator Paul O’Connor said: “We are taking this action because the conditions in Manston are desperate and disgraceful. We cannot and will not accept that our members and prisoners are subjected to these horrific, inhumane and dangerous conditions. “We know prisoners are sleeping in cold, overcrowded eaves on the floor without bedding. incidents of violence, including at least one incident of sexual violence; self-harm and suicide attempts; from dirty toilets; of horrible hygiene; of the spread of infectious diseases due to conditions; and of people who are starving. The Home Secretary is acting outside the law, as her own Secretary acknowledges, and there are, we believe, many prisoners now held illegally at Manston.’ Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. He added: “Our members are seriously concerned that they are being required to act illegally by the Home Secretary and are putting themselves at risk in the chaotic and lawless environment that has developed in Manston because of the Home Secretary’s catastrophic failings. We are asking her to agree to stop holding prisoners beyond the 24-hour statutory time limit at Manston.” The pre-suit legal letter was issued by Duncan Lewis Solicitors, which is acting for the three plaintiffs raising concerns. The letter states that the union is “not aware of any (or certainly no clear rational) plan to address the position of the significant numbers who are still being held illegally at Manston House”. It says PCS members are “deeply concerned that the Secretary of State is being required to act unlawfully in relation to those detained at Manston House, including processing cases or facilitating the detention of people who are unlawfully deprived of their liberty and access to justice”. The Home Office has been approached for comment.
