Airport’s holding unit for illegals is expanded

NEW expanded detention facilities for illegal immigrants at Manchester Airport have been opened by border and immigration Minister Phil Woolas.

Pennine House, a short-term holding facility, can now cater for up to 32 detainees before flights out of the UK.

The new facility will help the UK Border Agency to remove people with no right to be in the country.

Cases dealt with at the Manchester facility recently have included a trucker from Atlanta in search of romance.

During a routine check on the Chinese-born American citizen officers spotted his passport had been defaced with correction fluid.

Stamps underneath showed the 29 year-old man had been refused entry twice. He was hoping to meet a woman he contacted on the internet.

In another case, a woman and daughter arrived from Islamabad and mother claimed she wanted to visit her son, a student in Britain. The daughter stated her mother was coming to the UK for medical treatment including physiotherapy.

The woman’s son denied she was coming for medical treatment but was unable to explain his sister’s statements or the presence of medical documents. The pair were removed.

The refurbished facility, which has doubled in capacity, now includes a self-contained area for female or vulnerable detainees, and improved living, eating and washing facilities.

It will not be used for children.

Mr Woolas, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, said: “The Government will seek to remove anyone who is here illegally, and we make no apologies for being tough on illegal immigration.

“We will detect, detain and remove those who have no right to be here or who pose a threat to the UK, targeting the most harmful first.”