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Sixfold rise in staff at asylum centre sacked after drug tests
The Guardian
|May 05, 2025
A total of 29 staff were sacked after positive drug tests at the Manston asylum centre in Kent last year - a sixfold increase on 2023.
Thousands of asylum seekers who arrive in the UK after crossing the Channel on dinghies are processed at the site near Ramsgate by Home Office officials and contractors. Many of the new arrivals are vulnerable and arrive in the UK traumatised.
Home Office data obtained by the Guardian through a freedom of information request shows the 29 staff tested positive for drugs including cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines and non-prescription Tramadol. In 2023, drugs sackings at the facility were in the low single figures.
This story is from the May 05, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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