A barge set to house hundreds of asylum seekers off the coast of England was met by protesters as it arrived in Dorset on Tuesday morning.
The Bibby Stockholm - which is due to accommodate 500 people - was pictured being pulled by a tug into Portland Port, a month behind schedule.
Locals opposed to the plan staged a protest on the quayside as the barge was towed in.
They carried placards reading “refugees welcome”, “no to the barge” and “care for refugees and care for Portland too”. Other branded the Bibby Stockholm a “floating prison” and “prison barge”.
Plans to accommodate migrants on the vessel - under Rishi Sunak’s bid to “stop the boats” crossing the Channel - have been met with widespread backlash.
Human rights organisations have criticised the “cruelty” of “confining” hundreds of vulnerable people on a barge, and have blamed the Government for creating the current backlog of asylum claims.
Around 51,000 asylum seekers are currently in temporary accommodation such as hotels.
Downing Street has defended the use of barges to house migrants, insisting it is a cheaper alternative to housing them in hotels.
But locals in Dorset have raised concerns about the Portland site being used.
Spencer Flower, the Tory leader of Dorset Council, said in May the authority opposed the plan and had “serious reservations about the appropriateness of Portland Port in this scenario”.
The Home Office said the barge will provide “basic and functional accommodation”, healthcare provision and catering facilities.
Around-the-clock security will be in place onboard “to minimise the disruption to local communities”, the Home Office added.
Meanwhile Dorset Council has been given a £2 million funding package to meet the cost of providing services for the Bibby Stockholm residents.
The Bibby Stockholm will be in operation in Portland for at least 18 months and the Home Office is in discussion with other ports with the aim of deploying more vessels.
Liverpool-based operator Bibby Marine Limited says the 93-metre-long barge has been refurbished since it was described as an “oppressive environment” when it was used by the Dutch government to house asylum seekers in the Netherlands.
The barge’s arrival in Portland on Tuesday came after a night of drama on Monday, in which the Tory frontbench saw off five further changes being sought by the unelected chamber to the Illegal Migration Bill, including modern slavery protections and child detention limits.
The reforms are a key part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s bid to deter people from making hazardous Channel crossings.
They will prevent people from claiming asylum in the UK if they arrive through unauthorised means.
The Government also hopes the changes will ensure detained people are promptly removed, either to their home country or a third country such as Rwanda, which is currently the subject of a legal challenge.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper on Monday declined to commit on immediately closing migrant barges, if the Labour Party seized power at the next general election.
Instead she said it would work to “rapidly clear” the decisions backlog that has spiralled under the Government before reverting to traditional asylum accommodation.
