The first asylum seekers have been transferred to the government’s controversial Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge.
A coach and taxis were seen arriving at Portland Port through Monday, as local residents gathered at the entrance with a mixture of “welcome” signs and protest placards.
Around 50 people had initially been expected to be in the first group moved to the vessel, following several delays and rounds of safety checks. But the Home Office later confirmed just 15 people were moved on, blaming “last-minute legal challenges” for the smaller-than-expected group.
Dozens of other asylum seekers were initially selected for the barge but had their transfers cancelled after legal letters to the Home Office, which raised issues including mental and physical health issues.
The Care4Calais charity said none of the people they were supporting, who include disabled asylum seekers, torture survivors and modern slavery victims, had been moved following challenges.
Chief executive Steve Smith said: “To house any human being in a ‘quasi floating prison’ like the Bibby Stockholm is inhumane. To try and do so with this group of people is unbelievably cruel. Even just receiving the notices is causing them a great deal of anxiety.
“Human beings should be housed in communities, not barges - the government could just get on with processing people’s asylum claims.”
The Independent understands that the Home Office intends to only house people on the barge for between three or nine months.
Asylum seekers who arrived in the UK before March are being moved on board from hotels, rather than directly from processing centres near Dover, and if their claims are not decided in the period they may be sent back to hotels.
One-page notification documents, seen by The Independent, gave recipients no date for their move or justification for it, and did not clearly state that the Bibby Stockholm was a barge.
Earlier on Monday, Home Office minister Sarah Dines appeared to suggest 500 people could be on board by the end of this week, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Quite possibly it will be 500 [this week]. We are hoping.”
But when asked about the comments, the prime minister’s official spokesman, said: “We are looking to (reach) that number over time — I don’t think we are aiming to do it by the weekend.”
There are concerns that being housed on the barge will “retraumatise” people who survived dangerous boat journeys to the UK, and although the Home Office claimed “suitability screening” would take place the criteria being used are unclear.
Government letters to selected asylum seekers said there will be access to an on-site nurse, “recreational space”, English classes, “voluntary sector activities” and “entertainment areas”, as well as a worship room and private space for legal consultations and phone calls.
Authorities and firefighters have issued formal warnings about inadequate fire evacuation protocols for the vessel, which contains 222 cabins lining narrow corridors over three decks.
At least one bunk bed has been crammed into every room to increase the capacity to around 500, and the changes exacerbated concerns about evacuation routes and crushes in the event of a fire.
A coach carrying asylum seekers arriving at Portland Port on Monday morning— (GB News)
In a report seen by The Independent, a long-serving firefighter called the Bibby Stockholm a “major life risk” and warned that most fire engines in the nearby area are “on-call” only - slowing down response times.
The Fire Brigades’ Union formally wrote to home secretary Suella Braverman raising concerns last week and demanded an urgent meeting, but did not receive a formal response.
Ministers were forced to insist the barge was “not a death trap”, but the transfer of asylum seekers was delayed by further health and safety checks.
The quayside adjourning the barge is closed off at one end, with 15ft metal fences and a gate separating it from the rest of the port, but the Home Office insists the vessel is not detention because people can take a shuttle bus to the exit.
Amnesty International UK called it “an utterly shameful way to house people who’ve fled terror, conflict and persecution”, adding: “After so much shocking failure and clear warnings of public health risks about using disused military barracks, it is completely inappropriate for the government to continue its terrible treatment of people as objects for storage.”
Everyone arriving on and leaving the Bibby Stockholm must go through airport-style security— (PA)
The Bibby Stockholm was initially one of several vessels the government hoped to use as asylum accommodation, but ministers have not yet found any other ports willing to host them.
They are part of a wider drive for “alternative accommodation sites”, including disused military bases and a former prison, that the government claims will be cheaper than hotels.
Even if it reaches its full capacity, the Bibby Stockholm will house under 1 per cent of the over 50,000 asylum seekers currently being accommodated in hotels at a cost of over £6m a day.
Labour said the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels had risen by 25 per cent since Rishi Sunak pledged to phase out their use in December.
“Sunak is failing to fix the Tories’ boats chaos and the Conservatives are just flailing around chasing headlines rather than getting a grip,” shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper added.
“This is the direct consequence of Tory mismanagement and their disastrous failure to speed up asylum decisions or clear the backlog which is still at a record high.”
The barge is being managed by a private travel company under a wider accommodation contract worth an estimated £1.6bn over two years, which The Independent revealed was rewarded without competition.
There have also been delays and legal challenges to the use of RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, which is still undergoing safety checks, while some of the first asylum seekers moved to RAF Wethersfield in Essex in July were diagnosed with scabies and tuberculosis.
The recently-passed Illegal Migration Act puts a legal duty on the home secretary to detain and deport small boat migrants, but there are no operational asylum transfer agreements following the Court of Appeal’s ruling that the Rwanda deal was unlawful.
The government is fighting the judgment at the Supreme Court, but the case cannot be heard until October at the earliest and may take months to decide.
Reports suggest that ministers could be looking at alternative destinations, and reviving previously-dropped plans to send asylum claimants to Ascension Island, an isolated British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic.
Successive governments have claimed such measures would “deter” English Channel crossings but numbers remain high, with more than 15,000 people making the crossing so far this year despite weeks of unseasonably rough weather.
