Two senior figures have been suspended at site in Kent that has been plagued by failings in past few years
Two of the most senior staff running Manston, the controversial processing centre in Kent for small boat arrivals, have been suspended and are under investigation for misconduct, the Guardian has learned.
Witnesses said they were escorted off the Kent site.
The Home Office and its contractor, Mitie, which employ the two senior members of staff, have confirmed the suspensions and investigation but have not provided reasons.
Home Office sources said they were aware that Mitie staff members had been suspended and that an investigation was under way. The sources added that this was a matter for Mitie and did not affect operations at Manston.
A Mitie spokesperson said: “We hold our people to the highest standards and take allegations about staff misconduct very seriously. Where allegations are made, we will immediately investigate and take appropriate action where necessary.”
Mitie sources said that a senior team was in place to ensure the continuation of operations as usual.
Some of the new arrivals are survivors of rape and torture and many are traumatised by their journeys across the Channel in flimsy dinghies with cases of hypothermia and fuel burns from boat engines reported.
An independent inquiry is under way into what went wrong at Manston in the second part of 2022 when the site became dangerously overcrowded with 4,000 asylum seekers on the site intended to hold a maximum of 1,600.
The Kurdish asylum seeker Hussein Haseeb Ahmed, who was processed at Manston, died in hospital after contracting diphtheria on 19 November 2022. There were outbreaks of scabies and diphtheria, insanitary conditions including toilets overflowing with faeces and claims of assaults by guards.
Two former prime ministers – Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak – and three former home secretaries – Priti Patel, Grant Shapps and Suella Braverman – may be required to give evidence to the inquiry.
Asylum seekers were supposed to be held at Manston for no more than 24 hours, but documents show that 18,000 people – of 29,000 processed there between June and November 2022 – were detained there for much longer. Home Office officials admitted that “we completely lost our grip” on the situation in documents disclosed as part of a court case about Manston.
About 200 asylum seekers who were unlawfully detained at Manston during that period, are bringing legal challenges against the government for unlawful detention and related issues.
Manston has been hit by a series of scandals including a sixfold rise in a year of staff sacked for failed drugs tests and an investigation into a racist message reportedly “blasted out” at the centre.