UK Govt Contractors ‘Disciplined’ for Trying to Sell Drugs to Migrants Inside Detention Camp

Detainees are seen wrapped in blankets inside the Manston short-term holding centre for mi
DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

A group of contractors employed by Britain’s Home Office have been disciplined for attempting to deal drugs to migrants at a controversial migrant centre in Kent.

According to a report from The Guardian, Home Office contractors deployed to the Manston migrant centre allegedly tried to sell marijuana to migrants being housed in the camp. The paper claimed that it was revealed after migrants raised the issue as well as fellow security guards whistleblowing that the contractors were also smoking the drug at the site.

Responding to the revelation, a Home Office spokesman said: “The Home Office expects the highest standards of professionalism from all those contracted to manage the detention estate. The individuals involved in this incident were swiftly removed from the site and we will continue to take robust action against those whose behaviour falls beneath those high standards.”

“The Home Office takes the safety and welfare of detained persons in its care extremely seriously. Whistleblowing procedures are in place to enable service providers and Home Office staff to safely and securely report any concerns, including concerns of misconduct and inappropriate behaviours,” the statement added.

It has not been revealed if the contractors have been fired or if the government will seek to pursue criminal charges against them, however.

The Manston centre has become the centre of considerable controversy over previous weeks, with the massive influx of illegal migrants over the English Channel, most of whom are young males, seeing the site stretched to the limits of its capacity. Indeed, while the centre was initially constructed to only house around 1,600 migrants for a 24-hour period, over the past weeks as many as 4,000 have been held there, some for days on end.

This week, the Home Office has embarked on an effort to ship migrants out of Manston after reports have emerged that the overcrowding has led to unrest as well as unsanitary conditions resulting in outbreaks of diphtheria, scabies, and MRSA.

The process has been fraught with chaos, however, with buses leaving at least two groups of migrants stranded on the streets of London with nowhere to sleep and no one to keep track of their whereabouts.

Claiming that they have brought numbers down at the site, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “My understanding is there are currently 2,600 people on the site, so over 1,200 people have been removed over the last four days.”

The spokesman would not say whether the government will be able to get the numbers of migrants to the stated capacity, saying: “I’d defer to Home Office if they’re putting a particular timescale on it. Obviously that does depend slightly on some of the variables such as the level of crossings we see.”

While much has been made by the poor conditions seen at Manston, migrants are still being put up in four and five-star hotels across the country, with the scheme costing the British taxpayer an estimated £7 million per day. On Saturday, The Telegraph reported that Albanian migrants are being housed in the Stoke Rochford Hall in Lincolnshire, a £200 a night Victorian luxury hotel.

So far this year, approximately 12,000 illegal boat migrants have come from Albania, alone. It has been estimated by the government that about two per cent of the “entire adult male population” between the age of 20 and 40 of Albania has reached British shores since the start of the year.

A BBC investigation this week found that Albanian criminal networks are recruiting migrants to sell cocaine and marijuana in camps in France, offering to pay their people-smuggler fee in exchange for them selling drugs on British streets.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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