Home Office to pay more than £3.7m in taxis, minibuses and buses to transport migrants across the UK – as drivers reveal they will be told to drop off asylum seekers outside train stations
- Officials paid more than £3.7million for taxis, vans and buses in the past year alone
- One contract with a transport company would be worth £3.3m
- Drivers claim they dropped asylum seekers outside train stations
The Home office spends millions of pounds on taxis to transport migrants across the UK – with some drivers claiming to drop passengers off at train stations without any follow-up.
Officials paid more than £3.7 million in the past year alone for taxis, vans and buses to transport asylum seekers, illegal migrants and unaccompanied minors, a government procurement analysis shows.
An agreement with a carrier is said to be worth £3.3million and will cover emergency transport for ‘clandestine newcomers’ when the number of people arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel exceeds local facilities.
Protesters held a rally outside the Manston processing center in Kent yesterday
The contract, seen by The timesreads: ‘There is a public interest because the migrants can be seen in Dover Tughaven and protest groups regularly gather there.
“The emergency transport service will ensure rapid dispersal of migrant numbers… reducing the risk of overcrowding and potential accidents and incidents.”
The contract also included moving asylum seekers from processing centers like Manston to hotels, transferring people between quarantine centers and taking unaccompanied minors to foster homes.
Some drivers said they had been asked to drop migrants off outside train stations in central London so they could travel to different destinations.
A taxi company owner told The Times he was paid around £150 last month to drive three young men from Manston to Kings Cross station in London.
Another driver, named Rizwan, claimed he was ordered to leave illegal immigrants at London stations.
‘I was told by people with lanyards from the Home Office. . . “Just drop them in London, nobody cares, it’s fine, King’s Cross station is OK, or Victoria station,” he told LBC.
“Afghans have sat in the back of my car a few times and we happen to have a common language. . . they showed me the paperwork, ‘It says I’ve been rejected, I have no basis for being in this country’ or whatever, but they’re being released.’
People thought they were migrants in Manston, which is located in the former Defense Fire Training and Development Center in Thanet
Rizwan said he was asked to drop asylum seekers off at train stations, and other times it was at a hotel, but he was under no obligation to check if they come in.
“If they want to enter the hotel or disappear, that’s up to them,” he said.
Rizwan said he had expelled “many Albanians” from Manston.
“What happened is I had them dropped off and they were immediately picked up by someone in a BMW and . . . they flew away,” he said.
The news follows scathing reports that asylum seekers were abandoned at Victoria Station in London on Tuesday evening.
Eleven men were taken to the capital by bus as part of a larger group and were left confused and scantily clad, with one spending the night sleeping on the city streets.
A spokesman for the British Transport Police said officers responded at 10:33 p.m. to reports of a group of asylum seekers ‘seeking help’ at Victoria station.
A spokesman for the Home Office said today: “The well-being of those in our care is paramount and people will not be released from Manston until we are sure they have shelter.
“We can secure individuals where they can be accommodated by friends and family, and thus not be in need, and provide transportation for people leaving Manston.”
The news follows scathing reports that asylum seekers were abandoned at Victoria Station in London on Tuesday evening