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23 hours ago
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An investigation has been launched after a racist message was reportedly “blasted out” on portable radios used by Home Office contractors at an asylum processing centre.
The deeply offensive broadside, saying “fuck off you [N-word]s, go back to where you came from”, was reportedly heard at the Manston processing site for small boat arrivals in Kent.
The Home Office and its contractors Mitie have condemned the language used.
It is understood a meeting was held last Friday at Manston to discuss the message, which has been condemned as racist and unprofessional. Because of the type of radios used, it is apparently not easy to identify who broadcast it.
A source working at Manston said: “It was about three in the afternoon when someone blasted [the offensive message] over the radios … I’ve never known a message like that go out on our radios before.”
Home Office sources confirmed that as a result of the reported incident, a planned upgrade of the contractor radios at Manston was being expedited. The new radios will allow messages to be traceable.
It is not known how many newly arrived asylum seekers heard the message. Many of those arriving at Manston after crossing the Channel in small boats are suffering from problems including petrol burns and hypothermia. Many have lived through traumatic experiences, such as torture and trafficking in their home countries or during their journey.
While asylum seekers arriving at Manston have had a range of experiences, many from countries such as Sudan and Eritrea have had particularly long and difficult journeys, often passing through Libya where persecution of refugees is widespread.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We completely condemn the use of this language and behaviour. We expect Mitie, our contractor, to investigate this claim quickly.”
A Mitie spokesperson said: “This language is unacceptable and we expect the highest standards from anyone working on site. As soon as we were made aware of the allegations, we took immediate steps to investigate. A new closed-net radio system has been agreed with the Home Office.”
Manston has been the subject of criticism from watchdogs including HM Inspectorate of Prisons, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture. In 2022 it became dangerously overcrowded, with outbreaks of diphtheria and scabies and claims of assaults by guards.
An independent inquiry into a catalogue of failings at Manston in 2022 began last month. The format of the inquiry is still to be finalised.
It is not the first time Mitie contractors have been accused of racism. In 2021 an employment tribunal said it was “deeply concerned” about Mitie contractors who deport people on behalf of the Home Office having used the racist term “cotton pickers” to describe their black colleagues, but it dismissed a claim of race and disability discrimination.
In 2022 Mitie admitted it had received complaints two years previously about racist comments from some staff in a WhatsApp group, but failed to “escalate them”. Mitie is one of the government’s largest contractors.
Louise Calvey, the director of the charity Asylum Matters, said: “This is a horrifying report. The people in Manston have newly arrived into our country to ask for our help. This is by no means the first report of these sorts of rights abuses at the hands of companies which make huge profits from our asylum system. We urge government to address the practices of their contractors and to rebuild an asylum system that places dignity, respect and human rights at its heart.”
Maddie Harris, the director of Humans For Rights Network, which provides support for asylum seekers released from Manston, said: “People disclose to us that they have been subject to extreme physical violence, witnessed death and violent incidents, been forced to work or held in detention facilities and prisons, deprived of their liberty and endured acute psychological abuse. People arriving in the UK to seek sanctuary should be protected from further harm, treated with dignity and respect and provided with support in order to recover.”
