Vulnerable migrants forced to sleep in cold double-decker buses outside central Dover

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A shocking new report on the Tug Haven center has revealed it was so overcrowded that some people held there were forced to sleep on buses often used as rail replacement services Tug Haven Treatment Center in Dover, Kent (

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Vulnerable migrants were forced to sleep in cold double-decker buses parked outside a processing center.

The revelation comes from a shocking new report of conditions at a site in Dover.

The Tug Haven center was so overcrowded that inmates slept on buses normally used for rail replacement services.

Some, including children, were also asked to sleep in small tents in freezing conditions.

Activist Clare Moseley, founder of charity Care4Calais, said: 'No one in the UK should be sleeping on buses or in tents.

Clare Moseley, founder of Care4Calais (

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Adam Gerrard / Sunday Mirror)

The Tug Haven Center was set up to photograph and interview asylum seekers who have crossed the English Channel. It closed in mid-January.

The center has since been replaced by a facility at the Port of Dover and a second 20 miles away at Manston, Kent. The report said of its inspection: "The sleeping conditions were extremely overcrowded and the facilities were found to be far too small.

"During this period, inmates slept on thin foam mats...so tightly packed that there was no space between the mats and people were practically touching.< /p>

“Some detainees slept in double-decker buses. There were also concerns about the temperature in the double-decker buses sometimes used for sleeping.”

Jude Clarke of Migrant Help said, "Everyone deserves to feel safe and have their human rights protected."

A government official said, "Since inspections have improved."