London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2025

Cold, hungry migrants stranded in London after error

Cold, hungry migrants stranded in London after error

A group of migrants were mistakenly taken from Kent and stranded in central London, cold, hungry and without accommodation.

About 40 migrants were transported out of Manston, the overcrowded processing centre, on Tuesday so they could stay with friends and family in the capital, a homeless charity volunteer said.

But 11 of them had nowhere to go after reaching Victoria railway station.

The BBC has contacted the Home Office for comment.

The government has faced criticism after reports that Manston was holding migrants, including families, for four weeks, in breach of the law. It is intended people stay for no more than 24 hours while their claim is processed.

At most, 1,600 migrants should be at the processing centre at any one time - the MP for the area said that figure was more like 4,000 on Monday.

The BBC has spoken to one migrant who says he was left stranded at Victoria station on Tuesday night.

John - not his real name - said he spent 21 days at Manston, sleeping on a mattress in a tent with about 150 people.

He referred to the processing centre as a "detention centre" and said he had no phone and no access to the outside world.

John thought he was being sent to a hotel in London when he boarded the coach from Manston on Tuesday afternoon. It was once he was told to get off the coach at Victoria station that he realised he would not be going to a hotel.

"When we got to Victoria station the bus driver told us to get off the bus. I asked the bus driver to please call the immigration officer, but he said that I must get off the bus and call family. I said to him maybe there was misunderstanding because I don't have family in here.

"Other guys saying same. We were about 11 who didn't have anywhere to go. The bus driver just said we had to get off the bus. He said he just had to take us to Victoria and we should use phones to call family.

"At Victoria station I didn't know what to do. Other guys went to their families but where should I go?"

John, who did not want to say where he was from, explained a "charity guy" happened to be at the station, and saw the situation unfold.

Danial Abbas, a volunteer with Under One Sky charity, spotted the group. He told the BBC he saw a group of confused and disorientated men trying to flag down members of the public and staff at Victoria station on Tuesday evening.

The men, who he understood to be from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, were all wearing identity bracelets with QR codes on their wrists. They appeared to have been issued by the Home Office, Mr Abbas said.

One of the migrants shows their wrist band


"It was cold. Half of them didn't even have a jacket or proper shoes on. They were wearing flip flops. All their personal belongings were in blue plastic bags," said Mr Abbas.

They were hungry and without any money, "desperate for tea, coffee, soup", Mr Abbas said. He arranged to buy food at McDonald's and bought more than 80 items of clothing for the group from Primark - including gloves, shoes, hats and pants.

"They thought they were going to a hotel in London and were very happy about the prospect of leaving Manston," said Mr Abbas.

There have been a number of cases of diphtheria - a highly contagious bacterial infection - reported at the processing centre.

Mr Abbas sought assistance from charity Migrant Help. He was then able to get in touch with an official from the Home Office, who he says described the situation as "completely unacceptable".

The group was eventually picked up at about 01:00 GMT on Wednesday and taken to a hotel in Norwich, he said.

The British Transport Police said officers arrived at the station just after 22:30 on Tuesday night, responding to reports of asylum seekers looking for assistance.

"Officers engaged and liaised with charity partners, rail staff, and government colleagues to help them find accommodation for the evening," a spokesperson said.

They said no criminal offence was committed.

Migrant Help, which is a charity appointed by the Home Office to provide asylum seekers with advice and help with problems, said they would not comment on individual cases.

But it said it was concerning and "if this was indeed the case then, of course, our sympathies go to the people who have been put into this situation through no fault of their own".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
×