On Monday, during the Urgent Question on overcrowding at the Manston asylum processing facility and the safeguarding of minors there, I asked the Immigration Minister what discussions have been held with the Children’s Commissioner about the Government’s staggering levels of child neglect and why the commissioner has not visited Manston and hotels children are staying in to speak directly to the children.
To this, the Minister responded stating the commissioner has not requested to visit Manston and that he disagreed that the Government are being inhumane towards children. He commented that it is a difficult challenge to help the hundreds of unaccompanied children with foster care and support.
I find it abhorrent that the Children’s Commissioner has not used her statutory powers to visit Manston and the hotels to speak directly to the children there when there are very blatant cases of child neglect occurring. I was extremely dismayed to read reports of children being forced to sleep sitting up due to lack of space alongside scabies and diphtheria cases. I am extremely disappointed in the Government’s response to the Manston centre in allowing children to be kept there in unsupervised, overcrowded and neglectful conditions. The conditions that asylum seeking children face when arriving in the UK is something I have continually pressured the Government to improve.
My speech can be found in full here.