Prison probation and independent monitoring groups in Dover and Heathrow, made up of volunteers commissioned by the government to assess reception conditions, have visited several facilities over the past three months.
Charlie Taylor, the prison’s chief inspector, said there was only “limited improvement” in 2020, although promised after previous inspections.
“Prisoners (in 2021) were in a very bad situation, including a large number of helpless children,” he continued.
According to the report, families with small children had to spend more than 24 hours in tents near Dover, the main English port on the banks of the English Channel, while women who reported being raped by human traffickers did not receive “adequate assistance”.
The document also points to “significant” issues in the care of unaccompanied minors who are “routinely” kept with adults who have no relationship.
When Doug Haven visited downtown, near Dover in October, inspectors noted low temperatures, especially on double-decker buses that are sometimes used for overnight stays.
They found that many children, including infants and vulnerable adults, stayed there to sleep and that some injuries – burns, cuts, leg injuries – went undiagnosed or untreated.
Inspectors cited a case in which “a 16-year-old girl burned fuel on her legs and was in Duck Haven for two days in wet clothes.” When his wounds were finally identified, he said, “The stitches on his clothes were embedded in the burns, and a doctor said he might have scars for life.”
Defects have also been reported at a center at London Heathrow Airport, which exists before the emigrants were removed from the UK.
Investigators said four buses arrived one night and the migrants had to sleep on the ground without adequate sanitation facilities.
They called the conditions “unacceptable and disgraceful, but unavoidable due to the inability of the arrival processing center.”
