Tuesday in port on the Portland peninsula in the south of the UK, has docked a gigantic barge 91 meters long, 27 wide and as high as a three-story building. The British government, supported by the Conservatives and led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, has rented it for 18 months to house around 500 people waiting for an answer to their asylum request. The government has also announced that the first 50 guests will arrive within days, and the ship should already reach its maximum capacity in the coming weeks.
The use of the vessel 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. Several experts believe that the new law violates various international asylum standards, while UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk he defined it “a worrying precedent of dismantling the obligations relating to the reception of asylum seekers”.
The barge will be used by the British authorities to deal with the part of migrants who are not immediately deported and who actually apply for asylum. It will be used to house hundreds of asylum seekers in a place that is easier to monitor than hotels scattered across the country. To date, around 51,000 asylum seekers are waiting for the outcome of their request in government facilities or in various British hotels.
The government claims that the use of the barge will save about 6 million pounds – about 7 million euros – that the government spends every day to accommodate asylum seekers in hotels: in fact a detailed report Put together from two British NGOs estimates that the savings will be extremely limited, and indeed hosting asylum seekers on the barge could cost even more money.
Despite right-wing tabloids labeling the barge as one “luxury residence”, migrant activists note that living conditions aboard the barge could be problematic. The 222 single cabins have been converted to accommodate at least two people, who will therefore have to live together in a few square meters of space. The largest cabins will accommodate up to 6 people. There will be no curfew and asylum seekers will not be formally detained, but as they cannot work or go to school they are unlikely to leave the barge.
Residents of towns near Portland they protested a lot for the arrival of the barge: some to defend the rights of asylum seekers, others because they do not want such a large number of asylum seekers to stay close to their homes.
“There’s a lot of local anger, a lot of opposition to this barge”
Sky’s @danwnews is reporting from Portland where the Bibby Stockholm barge, which will house 500 asylum seekers, is making its way to Dorset
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In 2022, 45,755 migrants arrived by sea in the UK, up from 12,000 so far this year. These are very manageable numbers for a rich and well-equipped country like the United Kingdom, but for many years now the Conservatives have moved to the right on immigration issues, reaching positions comparable to those of European far-right parties.