Inside the UK’s most notorious immigration centre

TIRANA, Albania — Two Albanians were swiftly evacuated from a controversial immigration center, saying they were being held in inhumane conditions and denied legal advice under the government’s new pilot program.

The two men, who spoke to VICE World News in Albania this week, were given less than 10 hours’ notice before flying to Albania and said they didn’t know what happened to them until they boarded the bus to the airport.

The case has raised concerns over Manston’s human rights abuses amid a growing political crisis surrounding overcrowding at the Kent Centre. Lawyers and NGOs fear people are being driven from Manston without access to independent legal advice.

VICE World News met the two men in the Albanian capital Tirana just days after they were forcibly returned to the country. Eri, in his early 30s, was sitting outside a cafe, speaking on condition of anonymity and looking frustrated as he described his experience. “I didn’t know it would be like this in the UK,” he said. Another man in his 20s, Andy, who also asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, said he wanted people to know more about the “tragic situation” inside Manston.

The two men were on a charter flight with nine other Albanians on Wednesday, October 19, before they arrived in the UK a few days later in a dinghy across the English Channel. The British right-wing media hailed this “zero-notice relocation” plan as “major breakthrough“When dealing with small boat arrivals. But NGOs say that denying them access to legal advice may violate the fundamental rights of migrants.

Eri told VICE World News that he decided to go to the UK because he “couldn’t make a living” in Albania, despite having been working since he was 14. His father is disabled and the family has medical debt. A relative in the UK told him he could get him a construction job. Although they knew they were risking their lives, Eri and three friends paid £3,500 each to organise a boat trip across the English Channel with a Kurdish smuggling gang through middlemen in the UK. VICE World News reviews Eri’s October 14 travel footage. A video shows a crowded inflatable boat with people forced to sit on top of each other without life jackets.

The British right-wing media has been discussing immigration in Albania in increasingly hysterical fashion, as figures over the summer show that six in 10 people arriving in Albania by boat are Albanians.Interior Ministry declares Albania ‘a safe and prosperous country’, but VICE World News previously reported Show more complex picturesmany trying to escape the soaring cost of living crisis, corruption and gang-related crime.

Eli’s boat was picked up by the British Coast Guard approaching shore. Passengers slept overnight in port and were interviewed about who was driving their boat. The next day, they were moved to a marquee camp. Andy and his cousin crossed the English Channel in a separate dinghy, and the cousin assured him they could find work in the UK as he was unable to make ends meet at home and was taken to the same camp. They were not told its name, but their description matched the former RAF airfield Manston, which was recently described by border controls as “bad conditions. “According to British law, entrants can only stay here up to 24 hours But many are believed to have been held for much longer.

View of tent accommodation at Manston Airport in Ramsgate, England on November 2, 2022. Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

Here, the men were given what they called matching “prison-style” uniforms and wristbands with numbers. Eri and Andi said the conditions were overcrowded, with about 200 people sleeping on the bare floor under blankets. There were frequent fights over food and no showers — “We smelled like a dead cat on the road,” Eri said.

After two nights here, the new arrivals went to get their fingerprints, and seven Albanians, including Eri and Andi, were detained and separated from their friends and family who were travelling with them. They were taken to a smaller tent, where about 200 people shared about 18 square meters of space, sleeping on the top and bottom of stadium-style chairs. The men’s belongings, including their mobile phones, were confiscated. Even though people slept a few feet away, the toilet floor was “covered with shit” and it didn’t always have running water. “I started to fall into depression,” said Eli, who spent two days and one night in the tent.

The next day around 10 a.m., officials called the men and took them for an interview. They were asked why they came to the UK and were directed to answer about 10 yes/no questions, such as, “Did you know that the UK government can’t help you?”

Both told interviewers that they intended to work and had not requested asylum.However, Andy said Albanians who had successfully crossed the strait warned others not to apply for asylum in case they were sent to Rwanda, according to the Interior Ministry’s Controversial plan Put some asylum seekers on one-way flights to the East African country. The people said they were not given the opportunity to speak to a lawyer at any point in the process and were not informed of their rights.

Multiple immigration experts contacted by VICE World News confirmed that new arrivals should always obtain legal advice whether they apply for asylum or not. Detention operations deputy director James Wilson said any mention of working in the UK should also be a wake-up call that individuals could be victims of human trafficking. “That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re free [to come to that job],” He says.

At around 11 p.m. that night, the seven men were given deportation papers and travelled in a minibus with four other Albanians who had just arrived by boat. Eri and Andi said they didn’t fully understand what happened to them until they got on the bus. They were taken to the airport and flown back to Tirana, each escorted by two police officers. Images of the documents reviewed by VICE World News show they were published on October 18. The charter flight to repatriate them is listed as departing Doncaster-Sheffield Airport at 7.20am on 19 October.

Flight data showed the plane was supplied by Spanish airline Privilege Style, which had previously flown in quit Offered a flight back to Rwanda under pressure from activists.Other reports say a similar flight took place in October 13.

A spokesperson for the company told VICE World News that it does not comment on flights for confidentiality or security reasons, but that it “always operates and will continue to operate only flights and destinations that are 100% compliant with the laws in force in the country of origin. “

Toufique Hossain, director of public law at Duncan Lewis LLP, said these people should be advised on their rights on arrival and before being deported, “regardless of whether they apply for asylum or not”.

Rakesh Singh, lead lawyer at the Public Law Project, said: “There may be doubts about the legality of the way they are being deported. If they cannot get legal advice before being deported, then that is a very serious issue.”

“It would also be very worrying if Rwanda policy starts to have this chilling effect and people don’t actually suggest that their security in their home country is at risk and have no ability to seek legal advice before they are removed.”

The Interior Ministry’s fast-track repatriation scheme for Albanian nationals has been a source of concern since announced in late August.government later admitted It does not have the power to deport anyone who applies for asylum. On Thursday, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said arrivals from Albania could receive “custom route“Let their claims be heard expeditiously.

However, NGOs are concerned that people with genuine grounds to apply for asylum may not apply for asylum without access to proper legal advice. “We are deeply concerned about the chances that people are being misled or denied access to the asylum process,” said Joseph Maggs, coordinator of SOAS Detainee Support, an NGO that works with immigrants and asylum seekers. “The Home Office then swiftly deported them on the grounds that they did not apply for asylum.”

It is unclear how many people in total were removed under the new program. Speaking on Channel 4’s Today programme on Tuesday, Jenrick said about 1,000 people had been returned under a plan signed with the Albanian government last year, and he “hopes to see more in the coming months”. However, since NGOs were not allowed into Manston, it was difficult for anyone to verify exactly how many people were removed with zero notice, Magus said. The Home Office did not confirm to VICE World News the total number of people removed under the scheme.

Under normal circumstances, Home Office guidelines say people must be given five days’ notice before they can be taken away on a chartered flight. In this case, however, they see them as “port arrivals” that do not require a notice period, similar to those who show up at the airport with the wrong visa and are arranged to take the next flight home.

Detention operations “are very focused on some form of analysis based on nationality,” Wilson said. You can only identify reasons why someone might apply for asylum and their risk of being trafficked. “It’s unclear whether people are being held,” he added. [at Manston] Appropriate legal advice and wider attention to conditions are being obtained. “

A Home Office spokesman said: “As the British public rightly expected, individuals making dangerous and non-essential travel in the English Channel will be evacuated as soon as possible and Albania is a safe country.”

They added: “Everyone arriving by boat (as with any other method of arrival) will be interviewed about the purpose for which they seek to enter the UK and the circumstances of their travel. Interviews are conducted by trained first responders who will Identify indicators of trafficking that exist.”

Back in Albania, Eri and Andi are appalled by their experience, unsure how they will repay their debts to traffickers. They have no plans to try to leave the country again. But as more people face devastating poverty and trauma, and there are few open routes to safe immigration, there may be more people willing to take the risk, no matter how harsh the Home Office’s policies.

This article was reported with support from journalismfund.eu