It is easy for many people in Britain who do not meet asylum-seekers to forget they are human beings.

What is more, most of them are people who have had a traumatic past and are facing an uncertain future.

Tinsley House, a centre for asylum-seekers at Gatwick, has had a mixed past and was criticised in a recent Government report for what inspectors termed institutional blindness.

But as we show today, hard work and a sympathetic attitude are needed to deal with people whose plight is often desperate.

Sister Judith, a Benedictine nun from a nearby convent, will offer help to these people whatever their background or religion.

She hears their harrowing tales and listens to people who are terrified of what the future might hold.

Sister Judith and clergymen who take services cannot influence the decisions made by the immigration service. But they can and do offer help in the meantime.

The majority of asylum-seekers have not committed any crime and they are not prisoners. They need sympathy and tact during their time at Tinsley House.

Some will settle in this country and become part of it. Others will be sent away.

But until that decision is made, many need the spiritual assurance only someone such as Sister Judith can offer.