A man has firebombed a reception centre for small boat migrants in Kent.
Police said up to three incendiary devices were thrown at the Western Jet Foil facility in Dover, where asylum seekers are processed after being rescued in the English Channel.
A witness from the Reuters news agency said the perpetrator drove to a nearby petrol station and killed himself but police have not confirmed the suspect’s death.
One minor injury was reported at the centre, where almost 1,000 people were brought to shore on Saturday.
A spokesperson for Kent Police said the force was called at around 11.20am on Sunday.
“Officers established that two to three incendiary devices had been thrown into a Home Office immigration premises,” a spokesperson added.
“One minor injury has been reported. The suspect has been identified and located. Enquiries into the incident remain ongoing.”
Western Jet Foil is one of two processing centres for Channel migrants in Kent. It is used to carry out immediate welfare and safety checks, with officials giving people medical care and dry clothes.
They are then taken to a former RAF base at Manston for full security checks. Manston was set up earlier this year as a short-term proceeding facility intended to hold people for 24 hours.
But because of a lack of Home Office accommodation and hotels for asylum seekers to be moved to, up to 3,000 people are now being held there – with one Afghan family detained in a tent for over a month.
Cases of diphtheria and scabies have been spreading, sparking calls for urgent action by the borders watchdog and MPs.
