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Migrants were seen smiling and waving through the windows of Manston immigrant centre today as angry protesters gathered demanding the Home Secretary to resign.
It comes as the Government admitted this morning that there was still overcrowding at the crisis-hit, former RAF base in Kent.
Demonstrators from the campaign groups Stand Up to Racism and Freedom from Torture braced the rain this afternoon and stood outside the site, demanding for it to be closed.
People, believed to be migrants inside Manston, looked out at the demonstrators below.
One video showed a man holding a baby and woman huddled at one of the centre’s window. The woman was seen waving a handkerchief at the Shut Manston Down protesters who cheered, rang bells and beeped horns in response.
Two men, believed to be migrants, seen smiling and waving out of Manston immigration centre in Kent as protesters chanted outside the site
Protesters from the campaign group Stand Up To Racism and Freedom of Torture gathered for the Stop Manston Now demonstration. One woman held a sign which read ‘Braverman out now! Refugees welcome here’
Other activists held up signs that said ‘no human is illegal’ and ‘you are welcome’. Footage from the protest showed a man holding a baby and a woman waving at the protesters from inside the centre
Benny Hunter, who shared the video, said: ‘We can see a detained mother, father and baby inside their detention prison. They are waving. We say: Free them.’
Other footage showed a group of people from inside the centre standing on what appears to be a balcony outside, waving handkerchiefs in the air.
Angered activists chanted ‘Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho detention centres have to go’ and ‘stop Manston now’ while holding up umbrellas to shield themselves from the pouring rain.
Freedom from Torture placed a large, mocking placard on the fence of the centre which read: ‘HM Government. Suella Braverman: Centre for Cruelty to Refugees.’
Campaigners from the group Freedom from Torture placed a placard on the fence of the centre, imitating an official sign from the Government. It read: ‘Suella Braverman. Centre for Cruelty to Refugees’
Protesters braced the rain to hold up a large banner outside the centre that read ‘the enemy doesn’t arrive by boat – he arrives by limousine’
A man, woman and baby look out from Manston immigration centre onto demonstrators. The woman is then seen waving a white handkerchief as protesters cheer
It comes days after the Home Secretary Suella Braverman was ridiculed for arriving at the immigration centre in a RAF Chinook (pictured)
Other protesters, stood out in the rain this afternoon, helped up a long banner reading: ‘The enemy doesn’t arrive by boat – he arrives by limousine.’
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It comes days after the embattled Home Secretary, who is under mounting pressure to get a grip on the Channel migrant crisis, was ridiculed for arriving at the immigration centre in a Chinook helicopter.
The military vehicle costs approximately £3,500 an hour to operate.
The protest comes after it was revealed 4,000 people being detained for weeks at the site that was only meant to hold 1,600 people for a few days at a time
Police officers arriving at Manston immigration centre as the Shut Manston Now protest continues
A sign outside Manston immigration centre reads ‘no one is illegal’
Other signs being held up at the protest said ‘Braverman out now’ and said ‘no human is illegal’.
People, who are believed to be migrants, peered out of the centre’s windows this afternoon grinning at the demonstrators below.
Today cabinet minister Oliver Dowden admitted the ‘totally deplorable’ Channel migrant crisis had ‘gone too far’ and the Government ‘needed to do more’.
Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden today admitted the ‘totally deplorable’ Channel migrant crisis had ‘gone too far’ and the Government ‘need to do more’
Demonstrators from the campaign groups Stand Up to Racism and Freedom from Torture braced the rain this afternoon and stood outside the site, demanding for it to be closed
Mr Dowden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the Government hoped to have the Manston facility back under capacity this week as more people are removed.
He also insisted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was ‘totally committed’ to dealing with the migrant crisis and had been having ‘meeting pretty much every day’ about the issue since he entered No10.
Speaking on the Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday how, he added: ‘It is unacceptable that we now have a situation with almost 40,000 people crossing the Channel.’
A protester holds up an ‘every child matters’ sign outside Manston immigration centre in Kent
The situation came to a head after it was revealed that at one point last week there were 4,000 people being detained for weeks at the site that was only meant to hold 1,600 people for a few days at a time.
The overcrowded conditions has led to outbreaks of diphtheria, MRSA and violence.
This morning Mr Dowden said there were ‘about 1,800’ people within the centre, insisting the Government was ‘continuing to make good progress’ but admitted it was still over capacity.
