A HOME OFFICE whistleblower has revealed that the Tory government is recruiting supermarket customer services reps and employing them as asylum claim processors with effectively just two days training.
Meanwhile, the PCS announced yesterday that it is taking legal action against Suella Braverman on behalf of its Home Office members, against being ‘required by the secretary of state to act unlawfully’ at the Manston House detention centre in Kent.
Last week, Tory PM Sunak told the House of Commons that the government has recently increased ‘processing officials’ by 80% and he pledged that another 500 would be appointed by March next year.
It seems that in order to achieve these figures the Home Office has been adopting similar open door recruitment methods to those employed by the Metropolitan Police, as was revealed last week.
The Home Office whistleblower, with nearly two decades in the role of asylum claim decision-maker, was quoted in yesterday’s Observer newspaper as saying ‘the government is recruiting from customer service and sales positions at McDonald’s, Tesco and Aldi’.
She warned: ‘They’re getting in far too many inexperienced people, with no understanding of the asylum system, and they just don’t have the support they need so they leave. It’s a total disaster. They don’t know what they’re doing.’
She added: ‘It’s not a first come, first served system. Some nationalities, you see them, and say: “That’s a documented Syrian: that’ll be easy”.’
She revealed: ‘If a journalist has asked about an individual’s case, it’ll come into the senior caseworker’s inbox and we’ll say: “This is high profile”, so the case gets looked at quicker.
‘I’ve also had people sitting there looking up Lonely Planet for a potted history of a country because the guidance isn’t clear enough. Some have an in-depth awareness of world affairs but most don’t.’
Meanwhile, it came out yesterday that Braverman was warned against ‘hate speech’ and its effect in encouraging right-wing terrorism before she described asylum-seekers arriving in Britain as an ‘invasion’ in Parliament last week.
The PCS has launched legal action against Braverman over the ‘horrendous, inhumane and dangerous’ conditions at Manston House asylum centre.
It is joining Detention Action in taking legal action on behalf of its Home Office members working at Manston House, including Border Force officials and enforcement staff, as well as case workers tasked with making detention decisions around the UK.
PCS Head of Bargaining Paul O’Connor said: ‘We’re taking this action because conditions at Manston are desperate and a disgrace.
‘We cannot and will not countenance our members and detainees being subjected to these horrendous, inhumane and dangerous conditions.
‘We’re aware of detainees sleeping in cold, overcrowded marquees on the floor without bedding; of incidents of violence including at least one incident of sexual violence; of self-harm and suicide attempts; of filthy toilets; of appalling sanitation; of infectious disease spreading due to conditions; and of people going hungry.
‘The Home Secretary is acting outside the law as her own minister acknowledges, and there are, we believe, many detainees now held illegally at Manston.’
The union’s letter issued by Duncan Lewis Solicitors to Home Secretary Suella Braverman states PCS members ‘are acutely concerned that they are being required by the secretary of state to act unlawfully in relation to those held at Manston House, including in processing the cases or facilitating the detention of individuals who are unlawfully deprived of their liberty and of access to justice.
‘Grossly inadequate conditions at Manston House moreover place our client’s members themselves at risk of serious harm, including assault, infectious disease and harm to mental health.’
The letter warns the Home Secretary that the union will join Detention Action, and a female detainee, in bringing a combined legal challenge.
