Exclusive: Manston migrants abandoned at London Victoria left to sleep rough for two nights

The group of migrants from Manston who were abandoned at London Victoria station on Tuesday were left to sleep rough for two nights, the local authority has said.

Westminster City Council told NationalWorld that it was notified on Thursday (3 November) of a group of 11 people around Victoria coach and rail station - understood to be the men who arrived there two days earlier - who “appeared lost”. They all had wristbands and paperwork which confirmed they had come from Manston migrant processing centre in Kent, and each one said they were “destitute” and “had no friends or family in the area”.

The local authority says the group likely slept rough for one or two nights, those being Tuesday and Wednesday. Councillor Adam Hug, leader of Westminster City Council, said: “Our teams picked up asylum sleepers who were forced to sleep rough overnight after being dropped at London Victoria with nowhere to go. The chaos that is engulfing the arrival centre at Manston is now impacting councils across the country.

“It is not acceptable that people seeking asylum in the UK are effectively dumped at a coach station and left to fend for themselves. We need a more humane and frankly better organised response.”

Westminster City Council provided temporary hotel accommodation for seven of the group on Thursday (3 November) evening, but four reportedly “did not want to engage with the council or its rough sleeping teams” and left the area. Cllr Hug said: “We are happy to do our share to look after asylum seekers - we have plenty of hotels in Westminster, that is not the issue. What is the issue is that the Home Office seems to have descended into panic with no clear picture of where people are going. The government needs to get a grip of this urgently, and we would like to be part of the solution.”

The Home Office told NationalWorld that “asylum seekers are only released from Manston when they have assured us that they have accommodation to go to - to suggest otherwise is wrong and misleading.” It was also stressed that “the welfare of those in our care is of the utmost importance.”

The spokesperson said that the Home Office “can bail individuals where they can be accommodated by friends and family, and therefore are not destitute.” They said that the following criteria is checked for people who are “bailed in this way through Manston”:

• They will have completed their asylum registration, including an asylum screening interview which identifies any welfare or safeguarding concerns and ensures referrals are made to the relevant agencies, and confirms they do not need accommodating
• They will have their property returned
• They are provided with a mobile phone (if required) and alternative footwear (trainers)

The Home Office confirmed to NationalWorld that they will “find accommodation for individuals in need” and also stated: “The Home Secretary has taken urgent decisions to alleviate issues at Manston using all the legal powers available and by sourcing alternative accommodation.”

Tory MP Sir Roger Gale recently alleged to NationalWorld that the overcrowding “has been allowed to happen because the Home Secretary (Suella Braverman) made a very bad decision. Namely, not booking hotels for migrants to be transferred to despite advice she received five weeks ago.”

The news of the migrants rough sleeping comes after the Guardian revealed on Tuesday (1 November) that asylum seekers from Manston were left stranded at London Victoria without accommodation after being driven from Kent to London as part of a larger group of 40. Some had family or friends they could contact for help on arrival, but the others had “nowhere to go”.

Witnesses said that the asylum seekers had no winter coats and many were wearing flip-flops - with some wrapping themselves in blankets in an attempt to stay warm. Volunteers from Under One Sky homelessness charity, who helped at the scene, ran to a nearby Primark to buy suitable clothes and to a McDonald’s to get the abandoned migrants something to eat.

Policing minister Chris Philp told Sky News that a second group of migrants had also been left stranded in London this week. He claimed the groups had told immigration officials "they had addresses to go to, so friends and family, and that turned out subsequently not to be the case".

It came as the government continues to fight to control overcrowding at the facility, amidst claims the site was operating illegally (when over the weekend provisional figures showed there were 4,000 migrants there despite its capacity of 1,600), as well as reports of dire living conditions. Following on from this situation, human rights charity Detention Action launched legal action against the Home Office on behalf of a woman being “unlawfully detained by the Home Secretary at the Manston facility in egregiously defective conditions”.

Today (4 November), despite earlier comments from immigration minister Robert Jenrick, policing minister Chris Philp insisted Manston is legally compliant. He told Sky News: “I don’t accept the premise that it is not legally compliant today, a lot of change has been made even in the last few days since you spoke to Robert.”

Philp also told Times Radio: “If people choose to enter a country illegally, and unnecessarily, it is a bit, you know, it’s a bit of a cheek to then start complaining about the conditions when you’ve illegally entered a country without necessity.”

When Number 10 was asked about the comments, the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said it is “right people are treated with compassion and respect”. They said: “Home Office border force officials and many others are working hard to provide safe, secure accommodation for those individuals that come via these routes. As we’ve been clear, those individuals deserve to be treated with compassion and respect.

“Obviously the current approach is not working and it is placing huge pressures – both in terms of on the government and on the local area – and that is presenting significant challenges, which is why we continue to work both with French colleagues and more broadly to try and resolve this issue.”