UK Home Secretary, Suella Braverman is under fire for moving asylum seekers with suspected diphtheria from Manston Detention Centre to hotels across the country.
Over 70 cases of suspected diphtheria were seen in asylum seekers moved from the migrant processing centre in Kent to hotels throughout the UK.
The number of cases of the highly infectious bacterial infection has greatly risen amid criticism of Braverman’s handling of the migrant crisis at the English Channel.
Last month, Braverman came under immense fire for her comments regarding the issue when she referred to the influx of migrants as an “invasion” of the UK’s southern coast.
The Home Office has also faced accusations that it changed the birth dates of unaccompanied children so that it could detain them as adults.
READ MORE: Suella Braverman will ‘stop invasion’ of England’s South Coast
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The UK is better than this. The Conservative government should be ashamed of their complacency over the health and wellbeing of asylum seekers coming out of Manston. This is more than an outrage. This is a scandal. Braverman must take responsibility and resign immediately. https://t.co/tfqYCJwKwM
There has also been criticism levied at the lack of action on overcrowding at these facilities which many have claimed led to the outbreak and spread of diphtheria.
Jim McManus, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, warned that the UK Government had “put asylum seekers and potentially hotel workers at avoidable and preventable risk”.
He added that an offer to help the government deal with the situation had been “rebuffed” and that the lack of “information, co-ordination and engagement from the Home Office has made the situation far worse than it could have been.”
Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, Daisy Cooper said the Home Secretary “must take responsibility and resign immediately” over the “scandal.”
“The UK is better than this. The Conservative government should be ashamed of their callous complacency over the health and well-being of asylum seekers coming out of Manston,” she added.
However, Cabinet Minister Mark Harper assured there is an “extremely low risk to the wider community” from the outbreak of the infection.
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