FIVE asylum-seekers who claim they were unlawfully detained in Britain took their case against the Home Office to the Court of Appeal yesterday.

The five men, from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, entered Britain in 2014 or 2015 and were detained pending removal under European Union law, which requires that refugees claim asylum in the first EU country they reach.

The Home Office separately detained the five men pending removal to Bulgaria or Austria, where they first entered the EU, which they allege was unlawful.

One man, identified only as HH, fled Iran after being convicted of apostasy and tortured in prison, only to be left for weeks in “poor conditions” in a refugee camp in Bulgaria before entering Britain.

Another, named as FK, fled Afghanistan in 2014 before ending up in Bulgaria, where he was detained “in very poor conditions for 50 days” and told that his asylum claim could take up to four years to process.

The hearing continues.