LONDON, 06 February 2022, (TON): Migrants who cross the English Channel in boats are being held in inadequate processing centers upon arrival, UK Border Force staff have warned.

The Immigration Services Union, which represents immigration officers, said a temporary facility in Kent used to process asylum seekers is not fit for purpose.

Lucy Moreton, professional officer at the ISU, said “you’ve got folk coming through who have gone through a very hard journey. They’re wet, they need to be warm, they need to be safeguarded. We’ve got no hot food or hot water we can’t feed or wash them.”

Another facility, Tug Haven, which closed last month, was labeled “inadequate” by UK prison authorities last year.

Moreton said “the new facility in Kent, Western Jet Foil, a former hangar, is “made up of several containers and it is lined like an Eastern European train station, with wooden benches screwed to the floor.”

“We don’t want to be keeping migrants in these conditions, but we just don’t have a choice. We can’t kick them out on the street.”