Home Office bussing asylum seekers who cross Channel 500 miles to Scotland

Charities shocked by treatment of people traumatised by dangerous boat journeys

Asylum seekers who have spent 10 hours or more crossing the Channel in flimsy dinghies while terrified of drowning are being bussed almost 500 miles to Scotland to be processed immediately after reaching UK shores, the Guardian has learned.

The asylum seekers typically arrive on the beaches of the UK's south coast soaked, shivering and traumatised. Until recently they have been processed in Home Office short-term holding facilities (STHF) in immigration detention centres an hour or two away from where they entered the UK.