Rape survivors who arrive in the UK on small boats across the Channel are being neglected by the authorities, while others suffer inadequate treatment for life-changing injuries, according to a damning report. Inspectors found that suicidal women who had been repeatedly raped by people smugglers were not adequately supported after arriving on UK soil.
One girl who suffered fuel burns on the boat as she travelled across the Channel was neglected for two days, leaving her with scars for life. The disclosures emerged in reports by prisons inspectors and independent monitors who examined holding conditions for migrants detained on the Kent coast.
Charlie Taylor, HM chief inspector of prisons, said the Home Office had not done enough to improve facilities since the last inspection in September 2020. The Dover Independent Monitoring Board expressed extreme concern about continuing and worsening conditions, noting that migrants faced being held in increasingly cold conditions, with children including toddlers and babies held at Tug Haven overnight.
One 16-year-old girl with fuel burns on her legs had been at Tug Haven for two days wearing wet clothes before her injuries were detected, by which time the seam of her clothes had become embedded into the burns, likely scarring her for life.
The Home Office confirmed that part of the Ministry of Defence site in Manston, Kent will be used as a processing site for new arrivals by January 2022, capable of holding people for a maximum of five days. The announcement was not welcomed by local MP Sir Roger Gale, who called the site 'inappropriate' and urged the minister to put the proposal on hold.
