THE Government is spending almost £3 million on jail-like cells at its processing centre for small boat migrants.
A Ministry of Justice contract seen by The Sun shows the new "confinement" units are to provide "suitable accommodation and facilities to deal with potential incidents of disorder”.
Manston in Kent, which opened in February 2022, is used for short-term accommodation for processing asylum seekers, many of whom arrive by small boat across the Channel.
People are supposed to be held there for short periods of time while they go through security and identity checks.
It made headlines two years ago when overcrowding led to thousands of people being forced to sleep in tents and diseases such as diphtheria spread through the camp.
Michelle Mone's husband gifted Tories 'over £171k' as Covid PPE row rumbles on
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman was slammed for letting it become "overwhelmed" with people.
A statutory inquiry into the alleged mistreatment of asylum seekers at Manston is set to be launched after the issues in 2022.
The Home Office has previously said that “significant improvements” have since been made to the site.
At its peak around 4,000 people were held there, some for long periods of time, due to a lack of available accommodation elsewhere.
The planned expansion for confinement units at the site is set to be completed in July with a contract, signed on April 26, valued at up to £2,966,140.02.
Salford-based company Keir Construction Ltd is completing the work at the Home Office site.
The processing centre in Kent has been earmarked for use until 2030 - despite Rishi Sunak’s pledge to stop the boats.
There had been plans to build a “removal centre” next door to the existing processing buildings but these were shelved earlier this year.
So far more than 10,000 people have crossed the English Channel on small boats - a new record for this stage in the year.
Immigration has become a key battleground for the election with both parties pledging different ways to stop Channel crossings.
500 deaths is criminal and you can't blame it on strikers - Voice of the Mirror
Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to crackdown on the criminals facilitating the migrant journeys with a new Cross-Border police unit and more security cooperation with Europe.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday he promised to reduce net migration and ban "bad bosses" from hiring from abroad.
He said: "If you trust me with the keys to No10 I will make you this promise: I will control our borders and make sure British businesses are helped to hire Brits first.”
Rishi Sunak has promised that the Rwanda flights will take off if he wins the election in July, telling The Sun: “You've got to make it clear to everyone if you come here illegally you won't get to stay.”
He said: “If I win, then all the people that we've detained are getting on those flights and those flights are going to Rwanda.
“Those people have been detained, flights are booked, airfields are on standby, escorts are there, casework is happening and those flights will go because that's how we build a deterrent.”
