THE first asylum seekers have boarded the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset, it is understood, with more arrivals anticipated this week.
Home Office minister Sarah Dines has said the barge docked at Portland Port could house 500 asylum seekers by the end of the week, with around 50 expected to move onto the vessel on Monday. Number 10 has, however, since disputed this claim.
The 222-bedroom Bibby Stockholm is one of a number of alternative sites the Home Office is using to end reliance on hotels for asylum seekers, which the Government says is costing £6 milion a day.
Dines confirmed on Monday “all possibilities” for tackling the migrant crisis are being examined, following reports that the Government is considering reviving plans to fly people who arrive by unauthorised means 4000 miles to Ascension Island.
The volcanic island in the South Atlantic could house an asylum processing centre.
Plans to house asylum seekers on the barge have been repeatedly delayed, but Dines told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’re expecting pretty soon, imminently this week, in the coming days that people will be on the Bibby Stockholm.
“For operational reasons, you wouldn’t expect me to confirm the hour or the day but it is pretty soon.”
Human rights campaigners Amnesty International condemned the decision to house asylum seekers on the barge.
Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, said: “Reminiscent of the prison hulks from the Victorian era, the Bibby Stockholm is an utterly shameful way to house people who’ve fled terror, conflict and persecution.
“Housing people on a floating barge is likely to be retraumatising and there should be major concerns about confining each person to living quarters the typical size of a car parking space.”
While only a small number of migrants are expected to be housed on the barge at first, Dines indicated it could increase rapidly to its capacity of around 500 males.
However, Number 10 appeared to suggest she had misspoken on this and does not expect numbers to reach that level by the end of the week.
On Dines's comments, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “My understanding, and I think the Home Office have sought to clarify, that is about the upward capacity of the Bibby Stockholm rather than the numbers we are looking to get in by the end of the week.
"Numbers will increase over time as you would expect for any new asylum facility.”
He said no “limit” had been set on how many asylum seekers the Home Office was looking to house on the barge this week.
Dines said those arriving in the country via unauthorised means should have “basic but proper accommodation” and that they “can’t expect to stay in a four-star hotel”.
The plans to remove asylum seekers who arrive by unauthorised means to Rwanda have been stalled by legal challenges that will end up in the Supreme Court.
Asked why the Ascension Island plan is being reconsidered after seemingly being rejected by Boris Johnson’s government, Dines said “times change”.
Speaking to Sky News, the safeguarding minister said: “We look at all possibilities. This crisis in the Channel is urgent – we need to look at all possibilities and that is what we are doing.
“We are determined to make sure there isn’t the pull factor for illegal migrants to come to this country, basically to be abused by criminal organised gangs.
“These are international operations and they have got to stop.”
The developments came during the Government’s “small boats week”, in which it is making a series of announcements on the issue that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised to solve.
Fines for employers and landlords who allow people who arrive by irregular means to work for them or live in their properties are to be hugely increased.
Civil penalties for employers will be increased up to a maximum of £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for repeat offenders, tripling both from the last increase in 2014.
Landlords face fines going from £1000 per occupier to £10,000, with repeat breaches going from £3000 to £20,000. Penalties relating to lodgers will also be increased.
