The 39 migrants who boarded the huge barge set up by the UK government to temporarily house asylum seekers on Monday were disembarked after routine tests on the water on board indicated the presence of legionella, the bacterium that can cause ‘called lung infection legionellosis.
According to reported from the BBC, the analyzes were carried out before the arrival of the asylum seekers, but the results arrived a few days later. In the meantime, the migrants have used the water on the barge, but so far none of them have shown symptoms.
The boat is located in the port of the peninsula of Portland, in the south of the country, but the British authorities have said that the presence of legionella is confined to the water used on the boat and does not involve the local community.
The use of the vessel, called Bibby Stockholm, is part of a highly controversial plan by the British government which aims to reduce the arrivals of asylum seekers from France and crossing the English Channel. It is highly controversial because, in the part that does not concern the barge, it stipulates that the vast majority of asylum seekers arriving in the UK by sea will be deported without having their claim examined.
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