The center is supposed to accommodate a maximum of 1,600 people and each for just 24 hours while initial checks are carried out. However, up to 4,000 have been held at the centre, some staying in dire conditions for weeks. Asked if he thought it was acceptable for asylum seekers to be held illegally in Manston, Graham Stuart, the climate minister, told Sky News: “Obviously not. None of us are comfortable with that. We want it to be dealt with, we want to keep control, that’s exactly what the interior minister is focusing on.” He said the asylum system was “struggling to cope” with a wave of arrivals in the English Channel in small boats. “It’s not where we want it to be right now and we’re just trying to balance it out. Thousands more hotel rooms have been cleared but it is unacceptable to the British people and we must do more to tackle traffickers in an unprecedented rise in illegal immigration.’ Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, was due to visit Dover later on Thursday. He is under pressure over repeated reports that he has ignored legal advice about the situation at Manston and the possibility that people held there for too long could take legal action. Speaking to Sky on Wednesday afternoon, Robert Jenrick, the home secretary responsible for immigration, said the government had made “initial contact for a judicial review” into the events at Manston, but could not elaborate on legal reasons. Such an action was not “unusual” as it involved a “very controversial area of policy”, he added. Braverman, who is also under scrutiny for using her personal phone for government documents, which led to her sacking as home secretary during the Liz Truss government before Rishi Sunak brought her back into the role, has been accused of allowing situation in Manston spiraling out of control and defends herself with unbridled language about immigrants. It emerged that 11 asylum seekers from Manston were left at Victoria train station on Tuesday night with nowhere to stay, without winter coats, many of them in flip flops. In his interview with Sky, Stuart appeared to distance himself somewhat from Braverman’s rhetoric, which included a reference to an “invasion” of migrants during a Commons debate on Monday and a separate reference to the apparent problem of “Albanian criminals”. 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. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama hit back, saying the UK was falsely targeting nationals from his country “as a cause of Britain’s crime and border problems”. Stewart told Sky: “I’m grateful for the work we’re doing with Albanians, they’ve sent senior police officers to speed up the process, we have a postal system to return Albanians if they turn out not to be legitimate asylum seekers. “So we’re trying to work together, but clearly there’s pressure. You can see it from councillors, you can see it from members of parliament, you can hear it from people and journalists across the country. It can lead to language that is sometimes unfortunate, and it is worth recording our gratitude to the Albanian government for its cooperation in trying to resolve this problem.”
