‘A reprehensible way to behave’: Crises mount up at the Home Office

Staff fear they are being made to break the law over Channel crossings, writes Lizzie Dearden

Migrants were detained at Manston for several months before action was taken (Reuters)

Home Office staff have been raising concerns that they are breaking the law with their treatment of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel, but say they are being ordered to “carry on” by the government amid continued pressure to stop small boats.

It has lost several expensive legal challenges, including over financial support for asylum seekers and the blanket seizure of mobile phones, and is fighting more cases over the Manston processing centre.

Civil servants are understood to have flagged concerns about the lengthy detention of people in tents long before the immigration minister admitted the site was not “legally compliant” in November.