Authorities fear it may only be a matter of time before there is an outbreak of serious disorder at an asylum seeker processing centre in Kent, GB News has been told.
The facility at RAF Manston near Ramsgate is overcrowded and some asylum seekers are spending weeks there, rather than the couple of days it would normally take to process them.
Fighting between migrants, assaults on staff and outbreaks of disease are already a regular occurrence at the base.
The independent Chief Inspector of Borders told MPs today that he was left "speechless" by the conditions he witnessed on a visit to the camp on Monday.
The facility at RAF Manston is overcrowded.
Image: GB News
GB News has been told that on Monday night alone there was seven seperate security incidents that staff had to deal with.
The independent inspector David Neal said he had written to the Home Secretary after he saw ‘pretty wretched’ conditions at the processing centre with thousands of people being "guarded by non-trained detainee custody officers."
As well as overcrowding, sources claim a change in the demographics of those arriving, is also fueling tensions.
The majority of those arriving now are Albanian.
Few would ever likely qualify for asylum, and most do not want to enter the asylum system in rhe first place according to Border Force Commander Dan O'Mahoney.
He told the Home Affairs Select Committee: “A lot of them are not actually seeing their asylum claim through.
GB News has been told that the base had to deal with seven separate security incidents on Monday.
Image: GB News
“They just want to get through it as far as they can. We’ll typically put them in a hotel for a couple of days and then they’ll disappear, work illegally in the UK for maybe six months, maybe a year, send the money home, then they’ll go back to Albania.”
The Manston processing centre was designed to hold no more than fifteen hundred people, for just a few days at a time.
Sources claim there is a change in demographics of those arriving at the centre.
Image: GB News
There is currently double that number at the base now, and many have been there for weeks.
GB News has been told that on Monday alone, staff at the base had to deal with seven separate security incidents.
The former head of Border Force Tony Smith said: “We are seeing unprecedented pressures on our controls, both at the Dover processing centre and at Manston, upwards of 3000.
“This facility was never built to take that number. We don't have enough border force or immigration enforcement officers to deal with that number.
“We're not achieving the throughputs that we needed from Manston into accommodation. So I'm afraid it's a very, very serious problem. And as the boats keep coming, I can only see the problem getting worse. I'm afraid.”
Authorities have confirmed that of the 38,000 people who have crossed the Channel so far this year, 12,000 are Albanian.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "The continued rise in dangerous small boat crossings is causing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system.
“Manston is resourced and equipped to process migrants securely and we will provide alternative accommodation as soon as possible.