THE Home Office has been accused of hiding figures on the number of people it detained at Manston for longer than the legal limit in order to avoid paying them damages. 

Potentially thousands of ex-detainees held at the notorious asylum-processing facility in Kent may be eligible for compensation, campaigners have claimed.

This is because asylum law requires asylum-seekers held at facilities like Manston to be released within 24 hours. 

However, inspectors found that many had been detained for well over the limit, including families who’d been at the site for four weeks, putting the government in breach of the law. 

It’s unclear how many asylum-seekers were potentially held unlawfully at Manston after numbers at the site swelled to 4,000 in early November, well over the maximum capacity of 1,600. 

In a response to a parliamentary question requesting these figures, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick wrote that the Home Office currently has “no plans to publish this historic data.” 

The question, submitted by Labour MP Grahame Morris, had asked the Home Office to disclose figures on the number of children and adults detained at Manston for longer than 24 hours up to November 15. 

Mr Jenrick’s response, given on November 29, has prompted fresh anger at the Home Office’s handling of the Manston site, which was cleared last month following the death of a detainee and several threats of legal action, including from civil servants’ union PCS. 

PCS head of bargaining Paul O’Connor told the Star: “The chaos at Manston was only dealt with following the threat of legal action by PCS and others. It should never have come to that. 

“The continuing refusal of ministers to come clean about what caused the chaos is revealing — they have something to hide. 

“They know they were in breach of the law in detaining refugees beyond the permitted limits and they’re trying to hide this fact to avoid claims for damages. It won’t work — their ineptitude is going to cost the taxpayer heavily once claims are lodged.”

Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley said: “This data is important in establishing just how many people, including children, were potentially illegally detained at Manston for prolonged periods of time. 

“This is subject to a legal challenge and it is unacceptable that the minister is refusing to publish the data.”