_From analysis of detention logs, during the previous six months, 1,257 children had been held at Manston, including 26 who were unaccompanied. The average recorded time of detention for children travelling in family groups was two days 11 hours although 232 children had been held for more than 96 hours and the longest time of detention for a child was more than 19 days. Unaccompanied children were held for an average of 21 hours 44 minutes.

Families with children were prioritised at Manston, but processing remained slow at busy times and we observed some families with very young children waiting for several hours to be progressed into the family marquee. The family marquee was in good condition and provided baby food, children's toys and changing facilities. However, at the time of our inspection there was no private area for women to breastfeed.

Some particularly vulnerable children were held for long periods. One case concerned a 17-year-old girl and her 10-month-old baby, who the girl said had been conceived after she was raped. They arrived in the KIU at 11:030am and were held until 10am the following day, when accommodation was made available._

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/06/WJF-Manston-and-KIU-web-2023.pdf

———— Good thing that we spent £1,550 to get rid of those inappropriately friendly murals.. I guess the baby food, children’s toys and changing facilities will also be removed because there’s definitely no children arriving here.

I feel really reassured now that the 1,257 children in the report weren’t really children (and the 10 month old baby was obviously a teenager with an intense fear of bright, cheerful colours and disney characters).

Edit: @520 - I’m sorry my sarcasm wasn’t targeted at you exactly, your point about newspapers and the reported statements are both valid. It’s just a forked up situation for whatever insane reason the decision was made… I think malicious… but even if it was pure bloody incompetence it doesn’t make it better.